


Another Lifetime

by phoenixnz



Category: Smallville
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-19
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2019-05-08 23:34:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 46
Words: 105,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14704809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenixnz/pseuds/phoenixnz
Summary: Lois decides to swear off men. Meeting Clark Queen might just change her mind.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Symphony_of_the_Damned (SymphonyWizard)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SymphonyWizard/gifts), [rach320](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rach320/gifts), [BigRed67](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BigRed67/gifts), [thekiller00](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thekiller00/gifts), [ctbn60](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ctbn60/gifts), [Tboy1971](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tboy1971/gifts), [Winchestergirl1967](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winchestergirl1967/gifts), [AbbyG](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbbyG/gifts).



> The title is from a line said by the late, great, Margot Kidder in season four of Smallville, in relation to Bridget Crosby and Dr Swann.
> 
> Artwork by the ever wonderful and talented ctbn60
> 
> There is no Veritas in this story, no secret society led by Virgil Swann.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois is down on love. Chloe has an idea.

Lois Lane strode into the restaurant, her face a tight mask of tension. The blonde sitting in the booth at the far end of the room looked up, her smile in welcome quickly turning into a frown.

“Okay, you look like you could cheerfully throw down with Mike Tyson.”

Lois sighed as she sat down opposite her cousin. “You could say that.”

The waitress came over with drinks, setting them down on the table. Chloe had lemonade while Lois had Long Island Iced Tea.

“I ordered for you,” her cousin said. “What happened?”

“You know that guy I was seeing? He not only dumped me, he also stole my story. Well, my notes anyway.”

Chloe sighed. “I’m sorry.” Her wedding and engagement rings caught the light as she brushed a lock of hair behind her ear.

“You got the last good one.”

“Ollie? He has his moments, I guess.”

Chloe had met Oliver Queen when she had gone to Star City for a conference. She had attended a charity function the last night of the conference and literally bumped into the Star City billionaire. The man had spilled his champagne all over her dress. He’d apologised profusely, then sent her another dress to make up for it.

The couple had exchanged emails back and forth for a few months before he’d finally asked her on a date. They had got married after two years of dating.

They had come to town as Oliver had some business meetings, although Chloe wouldn’t tell her cousin exactly what they were about. Lois had to curb her curiosity, knowing she would learn what was up in good time. Oliver had been tied up in meetings all day and was probably still in his meeting. Chloe complained they could go on all night.

“You know what? This is the last time I date a guy I work with.”

“Lois, not all of them are like that,” her cousin told her.

“I mean it, Chlo. I’ve turned over a new leaf. There’ll be a new set of rules for me. From now on, no intra-office dating. In fact, I think I’ll just give up on men altogether.” She sipped her drink then propped her chin on her hand. “Maybe I should go gay.”

Chloe chuckled. “Afraid it doesn’t work like that, sweetie.”

She sighed. “I know!”

“Not all guys are bad, you know.”

Lois snorted. “Yeah, right! They’re all Superman.”

“Well, hardly,” her cousin replied. “Then again, no one can be as good as Superman.”

“Of course not. He’s like a symbol for everything that’s supposed to be good about America. You know, red, white and blue – or yellow and blue. Truth, justice and the American way.”

“It’s your quote,” Chloe reminded her.

Superman had appeared on the scene two years ago. Lois had heard stories about a man with incredible powers saving people all over the world but she had remained a sceptic until she had literally ended up in the man’s arms. Up close, Superman, as she had eventually dubbed him in her story, was about as perfect-looking a man as she could ever hope to find.

Yet the man’s true identity remained a mystery. Where did he sleep? Did he even need to sleep? Did he have a home? A wife and kids? Did he eat? Lois had asked those questions in her head a million times but even though she had been the first to get an exclusive interview with the superhero, he had never actually answered those questions.

They ordered dinner, chatting about their days. Lois watched as her cousin continued to order non-alcoholic drinks. Even her meal appeared to be a little bland. Chloe loved spicy food. The spicier the better. Yet she was eating as if she hadn’t eaten in days and the plain fare was the most delicious thing she had ever tasted.

Finally, Lois had to ask.

“Okay, cuz, I can’t help but notice the uh, sudden change in your diet. Are you, yanno, are you pregnant?”

Chloe almost spat out the mouthful of lemonade she’d taken, staring at her with wide eyes.

“Oh! Is it that obvious?” she asked, her other hand going beneath the table.

“Only to me, who knows your dietary habits better than even your husband. Why didn’t you say something?”

“We were sort of saving it until we passed the three-month mark,” Chloe replied. “You know. Past the, uh, danger period.”

Lois bit her lip. Chloe had fallen pregnant about six months after she and Oliver had got engaged but had lost the baby at nine weeks. They’d been completely devastated at the miscarriage and had almost called off the wedding.

“Oh, honey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories. You’ve got my word that I won’t tell anyone. These lips are zipped.”

“I know you didn’t mean to, Lo. I’m sorry. It’s just … you know. I feel so nervous, like I don’t want to get too excited because if I do then the bubble will burst.”

“And you think by even mentioning it, you might jinx it.”

Chloe nodded, her lower lip trembling a little. “Is that bad?”

“No,” her cousin reassured her. “It’s not bad at all. I should never have opened my big mouth. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t. Don’t say that. I’m just being an idiot.”

“No, you’re not,” Lois said, gazing at her beloved cousin with sympathy.

They’d always been close. Lois could remember the first time she’d met her cousin, who was just under a year younger than her. She’d been three. Chloe had just turned two. Her mother, Moira, had been involved in a car accident while travelling in Smallville, although Lois had learned years later that the accident had been caused by Moira attempting to evade a meteor.

As soon as she had heard the news, Ella Lane had packed up her two daughters and driven to Metropolis to see her sister. Lois remembered little of her mother and aunt’s conversation, only that she had been sent out to play with her cousin.

Every summer after that, even after her mother died, the cousins had spent at least two weeks together. Lois had defended her cousin against bullies and been the shoulder for Chloe to cry on when she had her heart broken for the first time.

“So, anyway, how are things at the Planet? I miss the place.”

“Well, you would run off and marry a billionaire,” Lois teased. Chloe had taken a job at the Star City Register when she’d moved in with Oliver, but had had to give up full-time work once they’d got married. The publisher of the Register had been concerned about a conflict of interest. She now worked as a freelance journalist, helping her husband with various projects on the side.

She began telling her cousin about a story she was working on. A man named Kyle Griffin, who was known as something of a genius, had begun wreaking havoc in the city. Lois had learned that his various pranks had been used to cover up his illegal activities. He was a right royal pain in the proverbial for law enforcement officials.

It was a good thing the Prankster had never turned his attentions on her, she thought as she relayed some of the incidents to Chloe.

It was late by the time they finished dinner and dessert and left the restaurant. Oliver was waiting outside the restaurant, looking casual in designer jeans and shirt.

“Finished your meeting?” Chloe asked.

He nodded. “Hi, Lois,” he said, bending to kiss her on the cheek. “Good to see you. You’re looking well.”

“Save it, Queen. I want to know what sort of business meeting has you tied up at all hours, neglecting my cousin here.”

Oliver shot his wife a look, cocking his eyebrow. Lois knew that look. It was his ‘is she serious?’ look.

Chloe laughed and shook her head. “You know better than to get on my cousin’s bad side,” she told her husband.

When they’d got married, Lois had of course been maid-of-honour. At the rehearsal she had told the blond billionaire in no uncertain terms that if he hurt her cousin he would have to answer to her. She’d grown up around Green Berets and Navy Seals and no matter how much taller he was than her, she could still kick his ass without breaking a sweat.

Lois continued to glare at the man. He shifted and coughed, looking uncomfortable.

“Uh, well, it’s, you know, confidential.”

That wasn’t good enough for her. She opened her mouth to berate the man, but Chloe got in first.

“Lo, stop it before you blow a gasket. It’s fine. Okay?”

Oliver smirked at her. “You seriously need to get laid, Lane.”

Lois gaped at him, then turned to her cousin. “Did he just …”

Chloe pushed her husband away. “Let’s not rile her up, dear,” she said. “You know what she’s like when she gets going.”

She turned and hugged her cousin. “Thanks for coming to dinner with me,” she said.

Lois smiled at her cousin. “Of course,” she said. In spite of what she’d said to Oliver, she loved it when it was just her and Chloe. Sometimes it helped just to be able to talk about subjects she would never have the nerve to bring up around Oliver.

Chloe watched her cousin walk to the corner before whistling for a taxi. Oliver wrapped an arm around his wife’s waist.

“Everything okay, Sidekick?” he asked.

“Yeah, it’s fine. I’m just … I’m worried about her.”

“Lois can take care of herself.”

“I know,” she said with a sigh. “She just seemed a little, you know, down. The guy she was seeing dumped her and stole her story.”

“That sucks.” He guided her gently away and began walking with her to the car.

“So how did the Justice League meeting go?” she asked.

“Good. I think we might have convinced Batman to join the team. Of course, it’s all thanks to Superman.”

“He can certainly be persuasive when he wants to be.”

“Don’t I know it,” Oliver said with a chuckle.

Chloe fell silent as she walked alongside her husband. She heard the chirps of the alarm as he deactivated it and unlocked the car.

“You know, I think we need to set Lois up with someone,” she said as they got in the car.

“Say what?” he asked, turning to look at her. “Are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?”

“Well, sure. I mean, Lois needs to know that there are some good guys out there. And I have the perfect guy in mind.”

Oliver groaned. “I know I’m going to regret asking this, but who?”

“Your brother.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver is not so sure about Chloe's idea

Oliver stared at his wife. She was thinking of matchmaking his brother with her cousin? These things never ended well.

“Oh, hell no,” he said. 

“Oh, come on, Ollie. Don’t you think they’d be perfect together?”

“Do you really think I want to start World War Three? Anyway, what do you think is going to happen if he gets called out when they’re on a date? 'Oh, sorry, Lois, I have to go, uh, return a library book.' Like she’s not going to cotton to that in ten seconds flat.”

“Uh, correct me if I’m wrong, Mr Doubting Mustafa, but as far as I know she still doesn’t know you’re Green Arrow.”

“Well, that’s different. I never dated her. You, on the other hand, had me figured out before we got together.”

Chloe nodded. They’d told Lois that she’d gone to Star City for a conference, which she had, but her purpose for going had been twofold. She had really been investigating Green Arrow. The incident at the charity event had still occurred, but it was more of a case of his shock at her revelation that she knew his secret. 

The rest of it: the champagne spilling, the replacement dress, the emails, that was all true. They’d just fudged the details a little so Lois wouldn’t discover the truth. 

“If there is one thing Lois is not,” he went on, “it’s stupid.”

“Good to know, honey, but I still think it’s worth a shot.”

He groaned, then started up the car. “Fine! Then you convince him. And you’re telling my mother.”

Chloe made a face. She loved her mother-in-law but Moira Queen was fiercely protective of her adopted son. 

“That’s right,” she said, sticking her lower lip out in a pout. “Throw me to the wolves, why don’t you?”

“Don’t exaggerate. Mom loves you. Especially now that you’re going to have her first grandchild.”

He could feel her looking at him but he pretended to concentrate on the road as he pulled up to a set of traffic lights.

“You didn’t tell her, did you?”

He was quiet for a few moments as he drove along the street, turning into the entry way to the clocktower building. His brother had an apartment on the top floor, but they always used it when they were in the city.

“Ollie?” Chloe was sounding just a little annoyed. They had made the agreement not to tell anyone. Not even family.

“Uh,” he began. “I might have, um, mentioned it.”

“Ollie! We weren’t going to say anything until I’d reached the twelve-week mark!”

“It just slipped out!” he protested. 

She sighed. “Oh well! It’s just as well. Lois knows.”

“Chloe!”

“She figured it out! I didn’t tell her! Honest!”

He shot her an exasperated look. “And that is why I think matching her up with Clark is a bad idea!” 

His wife huffed. Oliver winced as she slammed the car door, the sound echoing in the basement parking level. He followed her as she made her way to the elevator. They didn’t talk on the way upstairs. It wasn’t until she was pulling open the cage that she turned to him.

“Don’t you think they’d have great chemistry?”

“Well, so would nitroglycerin and peroxide but I wouldn’t put them together.”

“Oh, ye of little faith,” she said, rolling her eyes. 

“Lois and Clark together would be like … like chalk and cheese,” he argued, following her through the apartment. 

Clark looked up from the couch. He was on the phone.

“No Mom, it’s just Ollie and Chloe.” He paused, listening, then continued on with the conversation. 

Oliver pursued his wife up the spiral staircase and into their bedroom, watching as she took off her jacket. She turned and looked at him.

“You are really not seeing the bigger picture.”

“What bigger picture? I’m telling you, putting those two together would be a disaster of titanic proportions. She would eat him for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and still have room for dessert.”

His wife frowned at him. “Are you trying to imply my cousin is some kind of man-eating monster?”

“Well, they do call her Mad Dog Lane at the Planet,” he said with a smirk. Chloe hit him with a sharp punch to the shoulder. “Ow! Geez,” he said, rubbing his shoulder. “Have you been taking lessons from Lois?” Chloe wasn’t exactly tall, more like petite, and no one her size should be able to hit him that hard. 

She huffed and turned away. He sighed. “Look, all I’m saying is, Clark wouldn’t be able to handle a woman like Lois. She’s … she’s too much of a force of nature.”

As much as he loved his brother, Clark could be a little too shy around women. He’d had a crush on a girl all through his adolescence and that had been disastrous. Oliver wasn’t even sure if Clark had had actually slept with anyone. It wouldn’t have surprised him in the least if his brother was still a virgin at 25. 

“Well, maybe he could be a calming influence on her,” Chloe said reasonably.

He snorted. “Yeah, right. Those two would never be compatible. They’re like … hot fudge and halibut.”

Chloe suddenly turned green. “Yeah, that’s an image I want seared in my brain,” she said.

He winced and reached out for her but she pulled away, running to the ensuite bathroom. He’d forgotten about the near-constant bouts of morning sickness. She’d taken to eating a very bland diet, hoping she could keep it down, but so far it hadn’t been all that successful.

“I’m sorry, honey,” he said through the closed bathroom door. “I forgot about your squicky tummy.” There was no reply, just the sound of retching. “Why don’t I go make you some tea.”

He went back downstairs. Clark looked at him, raising his eyebrows in concern. He was still on the phone.

“Yes Mom, I know. I’m being careful.” He paused. “Ollie just came back in. Did you want to … oh, okay. Yeah, love you too, Mom.”

Oliver went into the kitchen and filled the kettle with water before putting it on the stove to boil.

Clark entered the kitchen, frowning at his brother.

“What was that all about?” he asked.

Oliver looked at him. “What was what all about?”

“You and Chloe.”

The blond shrugged. “Oh, that. Never mind. What were you and Mom talking about?”

“This and that. Everything okay between you two?”

“We’re fine.”

“So what were you arguing about?”

“We weren’t arguing,” Oliver replied.

“Oh, well, that must have been my other brother and sister-in-law. My mistake.”

His brother rolled his eyes. “Cute! Not funny, but cute.”

Clark grinned cheesily at him. “I know I am.”

“Yeah, that only worked when you were five. Not 25.”

Oliver reached over as if to give him a noogie but Clark dodged him. The older man put up his fists in a boxing stance and he mirrored the movement. They began dancing around each other as if they were in a boxing ring, the way they’d been taught at school. Oliver struck out, punching the air while Clark used a touch of super-speed to dodge.

“Hey, no fair using your powers!” Oliver protested. 

They continued to pretend box until the kettle began whistling. Oliver turned to take the kettle off and grabbed a cup from the shelf above the counter. He opened the pantry and took a box of peppermint tea out, opening it up to get a tea bag out before dropping the bag in the cup.

“Chloe okay?” Clark asked, watching as Oliver poured the hot water into the cup and let the tea steep for a while.

“Yeah, she’s fine.”

Clark didn’t believe him. His sister-in-law had been looking a little pale and tired lately. 

“Are you sure? She’s been looking a little under-the-weather.”

His brother looked at him. “Trust me, she’s fine.”

Clark was nothing if not astute and he’d noticed that Chloe had not been eating well lately, avoiding all the foods she loved. The first morning they’d been in the apartment, she’d been eating dry toast but had barely had two bites before she was getting up from the table and running to the bathroom.

He wanted to ask his brother if his wife was pregnant but figured if they wanted him to know, they would tell him. He hadn’t been around the last time Chloe had got pregnant, as he’d been busy training in the fortress. He hadn’t even been there at the wedding. Oliver had tried to pretend it didn’t matter, but Clark still felt bad all the same. The most important event in his brother’s life and he’d missed it.

They’d always been close, despite the six-and-a-half-year age gap. Clark couldn’t remember what it was like when his parents had first found the ship that had carried him to Earth, but they’d told him that Oliver had been fiercely protective from the moment they’d found the toddler-aged Clark.

Robert and Moira Queen had been in Smallville the day a deadly meteor shower had struck the town. They’d originally planned to fly to South Korea – something to do with Queen Industries, but nine-year-old Oliver had been sulking and Moira had felt bad about leaving him behind. They had postponed the business trip and decided to take their son on a trip to Kansas. Robert had had some business interests he wanted to look into. Queen Industries was primarily an electronics company but he had wanted to diversify. 

Chloe came in, wearing pyjamas. She still looked a little wan, but Clark chose not to comment on his sister-in-law’s appearance. Oliver handed his wife her tea and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“You okay?” he asked.

She nodded. “Yeah. I’m fine. Just tired.”

Oliver smiled. “How about we have an early night,” he suggested. Clark glanced at the clock. It was almost eleven. Hardly early. Then again, Oliver often patrolled until about two or three in the morning, so being in bed by eleven was a little unusual.

Chloe returned her husband’s smile. She stood on tiptoe to kiss Clark on the cheek. 

“Good night Clark. See you in the morning.”

He nodded. “’Night.”

He waited until they’d both gone upstairs before heading back out to the main room. He paused, gazing at the panels which showed the reverse of the clock face. He picked up a remote and pressed a combination of buttons, watching as the panels slid apart, revealing a small room. He stepped forward, giving the green leather jacket on the hanger a cursory glance. Beside it was a blue tunic with a yellow shield, a symbol looking very much like a stylised ‘S’ on the front. He picked up the tunic.

He blurred into super speed, quickly changing from the t-shirt and jeans he’d been wearing into the suit. Mere seconds had passed when he stepped out onto the terrace, overlooking the city of Metropolis. With a whoosh, he took off into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, some lines are taken from Crimson


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois gets in trouble and needs Superman. Chloe asks a favour

Lois grumbled to herself. She was supposed to be meeting a source, but he was either late or had decided not to meet with her. 

She looked around, feeling a little uneasy. This area of town, while not the slums exactly, was known for fairly rough characters. It had once been a busy industrial area as it was not far from the river, but now most of the buildings appeared to be abandoned.

What made it worse was she had never met with this guy before and didn’t have a lot of information on him. She could have called Chloe, she supposed, and asked her to do a background search on him, but her cousin was back in Star City. 

It had been a couple of weeks since she’d had dinner with Chloe. They’d talked back and forth but mostly on trivial stuff. She had been careful not to mention the pregnancy, knowing Chloe was still a little worried. She had no idea how far along her cousin was but she wasn’t going to ask.

She sighed, checking the time on her phone. “Where are you?” she murmured.

There was no point in sticking around, she thought. He obviously wasn’t going to show up. It was a pity. The source had claimed to have some dirt on the Prankster. 

As she turned to leave, she saw two men standing by a doorway to what she had assumed was one of the abandoned warehouses. She turned away, ignoring them, only to find her way blocked by a man about six foot tall. He clearly worked out as he had a fairly beefy build.

“Excuse me,” she said, trying to move around him.

“No, I won’t excuse you, Lois. I can call you Lois, can’t I?” 

She turned to look at the two men, who had moved closer. One of them was tall and skinny, with black hair, while the second man was shorter, with a stocky build and receding hairline.

The taller man continued speaking.

“I mean, I feel like we’ve got to know each other … intimately,” he said with a leer. “You’ve been writing all those stories about me.”

“Griffin,” she said with a gasp. 

He chuckled. The other man sniggered beside him, while the third man grabbed her in a sort of bear hug. She struggled but the man was stronger than her. 

It was quickly becoming obvious that she had been set up. 

She stopped struggling, giving herself time to reassess the situation. Griffin beckoned to the two men and she felt herself pushed toward the building’s entry. It looked like the Prankster had set up shop within the building.

She figured if she pretended not to fight against her captor, Griffin might let something slip about his plans. Then again, this was not a cheesy television show where the bad guy liked to shoot his mouth off. 

She watched as the Prankster began working on some machine.

“So, what’s that?” she asked.

Griffin looked up at her and shook his finger. “Now, Lois, you know better than that.”

“Sorry,” she said with a shrug. 

Griffin shot a glare at the man holding her. “Don’t just stand there. Take her out back.”

“And do what?” she asked. 

“Why, kill you, of course.” He leaned casually on the machine. “I really hate bad press, Lois.”

“You’re insane, Griffin.”

“Well, as they say, one man’s genius is another man’s insanity.”

She was pulled away roughly. Knowing she was about to get shot, or worse, she struggled in earnest against the man’s strong grip. To no avail.

“Come on, Lois,” she told herself. “Think.”

She had learned karate when she was a kid and her sensei had taught her that even when an opponent appeared to be stronger than her, there was always a way to beat them. As he forced her out through the main part of the warehouse, she saw her chance. She let herself go limp so she was a deadweight in his arms. 

The man clearly didn’t know what to do, his grip loosening just enough for her to break away and grab the iron bar she had spotted lying on the floor. She swung it, not quite high enough to hit his head, but enough so that it impacted with his muscular torso, knocking the wind out of him. He dropped to the ground with a loud groan. Lois dropped the iron bar with a clang and began running, looking for an exit.

Griffin and the other man came running to investigate. Griffin was muttering to himself about idiots being unable to do their job. Lois ignored him, sprinting across the floor toward an exit. She heard the sound of a shot which ricocheted off a metal pipe less than a foot away from her. She tried the door only to find it was locked.

“Lois, Lois, Lois,” the Prankster tsked. “Why must you make this so hard on yourself?”

She ducked her head, squeezing her eyes shut as she waited for the inevitable. There was the sound of another shot, then nothing. 

She opened her eyes and stared. Superman was standing between her and Griffin. 

“I think, Mr Griffin, you have worn out your welcome.”

“Aw, Superman, why do you have to be such a party pooper?”

Griffin’s protest was cut off as all three men were gathered up and secured by a thick chain. Superman turned to her.

“Are you all right, Miss Lane?”

She nodded, pausing, wanting desperately to say something to the superhero. “I’m fine. Thank you, Superman.” 

“You should call the police and have them pick up Mr Griffin and his friends here.”

“Yes, I will,” she said. 

He smiled at her then disappeared in the blink of an eye. She leaned back against the wall, sighing. Her second lifesaving encounter with the superhero and all she could do was stand there and act like a gibbering idiot.

It was almost nine when she returned to her apartment. She threw her keys down on the scarred tabletop in frustration. Sure, Griffin would be going to jail and she had a great story on top of it, but she was still no closer to figuring out the blue-clad superhero.

She checked her messages and discovered Chloe had called. She dialled the number.

“Hey cuz,” she said when Chloe answered.

“Hey Lois,” her cousin said cheerfully. “So I heard the Prankster’s in jail.”

“How did you find out about that?” she asked.

“It’s called the Internet, Lois. Your story’s the top trender, both on the news sites and on Twitter. Congrats.”

“Thanks, I think. What’s up?”

“Well, I just thought I’d call to let you know that everything’s okay. You can go ahead and tell people now.”

She frowned, not quite following her cousin’s meaning. 

“Tell people what?”

“About the baby. I just passed the three-month mark and the doctor says everything’s fine.”

“Oh, that’s great, Chlo. Congratulations.” It was no wonder she sounded so happy, Lois thought. “You two must be really excited.”

“Yeah. Ollie went out and bought an outfit for the baby already. You should see it. It’s the cutest thing!”

Oliver spoke in the background and Chloe must have turned away from the phone as there were muffled voices. She came back on about a minute later.

“Oh, there’s this thing on on Saturday. It’s something to do with Saving the Rainforests. They’re hosting it at the Ace of Clubs.”

“What does this have to do with me?” she asked.

“Well, Ollie and I can’t go. We already have something here in Star City. So, I was wondering …”

“Oh no,” she said, smelling a set-up. “There is no way you’re setting me up on a blind date.”

“It’s not exactly a blind date. It’s Ollie’s brother.”

Oliver’s brother. Whom she’d never met. Who apparently had more important things to do than be there for his brother at his wedding. Who also, according to the latest gossip, would rather spend his family’s money than get an actual job. 

“Oh, hell no,” she said.

“Come on, Lois. It’s for a good cause! Please?”

She hated the pleading tone in her cousin’s voice. She’d sworn off men and was ready to call her lovelife a national disaster. 

“Lois, I’m not asking you to marry the guy, just be his date at this thing. It’ll be a great networking opportunity for you.”

She huffed. “I really hate when you do that!” she said.

“Thanks, Lois, you just saved my bacon.”

“I didn’t say yes, yet,” she replied.

Chloe went on as if she hadn’t spoken. “I’ll get your ticket couriered to you. Do you want Clark to … oh, no, it’s probably better if you meet him there. So, Ace of Clubs at seven on Saturday. Okay? And Lois, wear that white gown with the gold beading. You look really great in that. Thanks a million, Lo. I owe you huge for this.”

“Yeah, don’t think I won’t collect,” she replied sarcastically. 

Chloe laughed and hung up. Lois sighed as she put the phone down. 

“Great,” she muttered. “Just great.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark is not impressed with his 'date'.

Clark loved his brother but he never thought he would be a pushover where his sister-in-law was concerned.

As he stood in the foyer of the building housing the Ace of Clubs, he sighed heavily, glancing at his watch. How did he manage to get himself into these things?

It wasn’t the function he was worried about. Being a member of a wealthy family, it was sort of expected that he would have to make appearances at various events. No, it was the fact that Chloe had set him up with a blind date. Well, not exactly blind. 

He grumbled. “If she wasn’t my brother’s wife, I’d …”

“You’d do what?” a voice behind him asked.

He turned and looked at the speaker. Lois Lane. He’d saved her a few times as Superman, but he’d tried to maintain a professional distance, not wanting her to discover his true identity. If she was anything at all like her cousin, his secret identity wouldn’t last long under her scrutiny.

He had to admit the woman was very attractive, especially in the white gown with what looked like gold beading decorating the bodice in fancy patterns. The fitted bodice showed off her slender curves without being too obvious about it and the full skirt just served to accentuate her long legs. Her hair was half-pinned, the rest flowing down her back in chocolate waves. She looked classy. 

He pushed his horn-rimmed glasses up to the bridge of his nose with his middle finger. While he didn’t really need glasses, Oliver had suggested them as a way of separating his public persona as Clark Queen from Superman.

“You gonna stand and stare all night, Queen?” she asked acerbically. 

“Uh …” Words failed him. Why was it that when he was Superman he had no problem talking to her but as himself …

She rolled her eyes. He couldn’t help but notice she had pretty hazel eyes. Chloe’s were green. Had he not known it already, he would never have picked her for being Chloe’s cousin. They did not look alike.

“Let’s get this shindig over and done with, ‘K?” She held out her arm and he stared at her, still lost for something witty to say. She huffed and grabbed his arm. “Great! You know, this is the last time I do my cousin any favours! I can’t believe she talked me into this! I was expecting someone with a brain at least and I end up with Forrest Gump!”

Clark glared at her, feeling insulted. “I happen to have a brain, thank you,” he said, miffed. “And I hardly think you’re one to talk, Ms Lane! Comparing me to Forrest Gump?”

“Well, no, you’re right. At least Forrest wasn’t a total geek!” she said, looking at him with a sideways glance. 

“I have never considered myself a geek,” he replied.

“Yeah? Try looking in the mirror. Whoever thought those fugly glasses would be a fashion statement really needs to go back to school.”

“They serve their purpose,” he returned, really feeling annoyed with her. 

“You know, there are these newfangled things you can try. They’re called contacts.”

“I didn’t know you cared!” he replied.

“I don’t!” she answered with a light snicker, making him wonder if she was laughing at him or at the situation. 

They entered the club and were immediately accosted by cameras in their faces. Clark blinked rapidly, turning his body slightly to shield her from the worst of it. Lois pushed him away.

“Thanks, but when I need a knight in shining whatever, I’ll call Superman!” she said.

A reporter stuck a microphone in his face.

“Mr Queen, are you and Miss Lane dating?”

“Miss Lane is only here as a favour,” he told the reporter. “And no, we are not dating!”

Lois canted her head and smirked. “I’d sooner date Lex Luthor,” she said. 

Clark stared at her. Lex was an old classmate of his brother’s and the two men had never really gotten along. The phrase ‘worst enemy’ came to mind when he wanted to describe their relationship. Oliver had been rather arrogant as a teenager and had been suspended for bullying some of the younger boys. When their father, Robert, had found out about it, he had threatened to pull both boys out of Excelsior and send them to stay with their aunt and uncle in Smallville, where they would have had to attend Smallville High.

It wasn’t so much the threat of being sent to Smallville that had made Oliver clean up his act. It was the thought of seeing the disappointment in Jonathan Kent’s eyes. 

Clark spotted the bald billionaire in the crowd and propelled Lois forward.

“Well, if Lex Luthor is more your type, have at it. He’s over there!”

He pushed past her rudely and went to the bar to grab a glass of champagne, leaving her standing gaping at him. 

The rest of the evening was a complete disaster. He circulated and chatted with various socialites, most of whom had known him since he was a toddler, but it was the presence of the woman who was supposed to be his date that made his evening unbearable.

As rude and as stuck-up as he thought she was, there was something about her. Something that made him want to either strangle her or kiss her. The last woman who had affected him this way was Lana, although even he had to admit that the girl he’d spent much of his teenage years mooning over didn’t have nearly as much effect on him as Lois. 

It was annoying and infuriating. He didn’t even like the woman! Yet every time he stood near her, he felt almost dizzy. Almost, but not quite the same as when he’d been around Lana. Then again, he’d often wondered whether it was the necklace made of meteor rock. Maybe he should be looking to see if Lois had any kind of green stone on her person.

He was relieved when the evening drew to a close. Lois, having spent much of the evening avoiding talking to him, strode purposefully toward him. He caught a whiff of her perfume, a light, flowery scent that was subtle rather than overpowering, even for someone with his enhanced olfactory senses. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. 

It’s just pheromones, he told himself. Chemical attraction. That was all it was.

She punched him in the shoulder. “Wake up, Queen! You need to escort me home!”

He glared at her. “Why would I want to do that?”

“Ah, hello? Because you’re supposed to be a gentleman, and when a gentleman escorts a girl on a date, he takes her home!”

“There is no way this was a date!” he said.

“Fine! Suit yourself! You’re still driving me!”

“Don’t you have a ride?” he asked.

“I took a taxi,” she told him. 

“I don’t recall a ride being a condition of this so-called date!”

“Take it up with my cousin!” She turned, her hair flying behind her as she began walking to the door without even checking if he was following.

I take it back, he thought. I just want to strangle her, not kiss her!

Still, his mother would kill him if he didn’t act the gentleman and escort the lady home. He guided her out of the club and downstairs to the street, handing his ticket to the valet. A couple of minutes later the valet drove up in a Lamborghini. Lois looked suitably impressed at the vehicle, which was a classic Countach. 

“A Lamborghini? Well, maybe you’re not such a geek after all.”

“It happens to be a classic,” he said as he waited for her to get in the car before getting in the other side.

He drove out into the street, keeping to the speed limit. Oliver had had far too many run-ins with the police over his habit of speeding which had only served as fodder for the gossip columns. He wasn’t about to do the same and have them get the wrong impression about his ‘date’ with one of their own. 

“Did I say I didn’t like it? I grew up on army bases where if you wanted to make a good impression you took a tank.”

He frowned at her. “Are you going somewhere with this?”

She laughed. “I stole a tank and took it to my senior prom. I didn’t actually make it inside, mind you. I was too busy making out with my boyfriend. Besides, proms are just the high school version of Who Wore It Better. It’s a popularity contest.”

“That sounds like something Chloe would say,” he said. “You really stole a tank?”

“My dad was furious. Threatened to ground me for a month. Like he ever could!”

“My brother stole one of our dad’s cars once. I think he was fourteen, fifteen. He didn’t even have his licence. Dad was livid. He not only grounded Ollie, but he took away his allowance for a whole month. That didn’t make him very popular at school.”

Lois laughed. Clark felt heartened by the fact they seemed to be bonding.

“So, what did Clark Queen get up to when he was a teenager?”

He felt himself flushing. “Uh, nothing, really. I was never really the partying type. I guess I am a geek, in that case.” 

They were quiet for a few moments. Clark asked her for the address to her apartment and took the highway. Lois lived a few miles out of the city centre. 

“Um, Chloe told me about your dad. I’m sorry. It must have been really hard on you all.”

Robert had disappeared while out on the family’s yacht. He and Oliver had gone out on a father and son trip. Oliver had disappeared as well, turning up on a deserted island two and a half years later. It was only then that they learned that someone had hijacked the yacht and blown it up. His brother had told him he suspected someone had tried to silence Robert over some business he was involved in. 

“Thanks,” he said.

He pulled up outside her building. Lois didn’t even wait for him to come to a full stop before she was opening the door.

“Thanks for the ride,” she said, practically slamming the door in her rush to get away. 

Clark snorted in disgust. So much for the moment of bonding. He was right in his original assessment of her. She was stuck-up. 

It was one in the morning when he reached his apartment but instead of going to bed, he quickly changed into jeans and t-shirt and took off from the terrace. Minutes later he landed on the patio of his family’s huge mansion in Star City. 

He reached for the French doors to step into the family room when they opened. 

“Hello sweetheart!”

He wrapped his arms around his mother. “Hi, Mom.” He breathed in her perfume, an instant reminder of a happy childhood. 

“How was your date, darling?” she asked as she led him inside and made him sit on the sofa. She walked over to the wet bar and poured them each a tumbler of scotch.

“It wasn’t a date,” he said.

“That’s not what Chloe told me. Oh, did they tell you the news?”

He nodded, knowing she was referring to the pregnancy. “Yeah. Oliver told me a couple of days ago. He sounds really excited.”

“We all are,” Moira Queen replied, handing him one of the tumblers. She sat down next to him and put a hand on his knee. “So, tell me about this girl you had this non-date with.”

“Lois Lane? The woman is a total nightmare! She’s stuck-up, she’s rude! I can’t stand her!”

His mother smiled knowingly. “I have it on good authority that the best ones start that way.”

He pinched his nose. “No way, Mom! Hell would have to freeze over first.”

“You know, that’s exactly what Lois said just now,” Chloe replied, coming in. Oliver followed behind her. The couple sat on the loveseat. “She just called, complaining about you. She said you were obnoxious.”

He looked at his sister-in-law incredulously. “I’m obnoxious? She called me Forrest Gump!”

Oliver snorted with laughter. Chloe shot him a stern look and he subsided quickly. 

“This is Lois Lane of the Daily Planet?” his mother asked. Clark nodded. Oliver and their mother exchanged a look.

“What?” Clark asked.

“We weren’t going to tell you this way. We’ve been in negotiations for months.”

He had a sinking feeling. “Negotiations?” he asked slowly. “For what?”

“For the Daily Planet. And we want you to take over as publisher.”

He raised his hands. “What? Now, wait a second.”

“Honey, you were the one who decided to major in journalism in college,” his mother replied. 

“Yes, so I could write freelance, freeing me up for when I had to do my Superman thing.”

“You can still do your ‘Superman thing’,” Oliver told him. “As publisher, you’ll have no one to answer to but me and I certainly won’t be asking questions about you taking off so suddenly.”

“It makes perfect sense to me, Clark,” Chloe replied. 

“Great, and I’ll be accused of nepotism.”

“You’re at least qualified,” Oliver pointed out. “I mean, why do your Masters if you weren’t thinking about it to some degree. And you were editor of the Met U Gazette!”

“It’s hardly the New York Times!” he protested. “Besides, that was editor, not publisher!”

“Darling, we thought this would be the best solution,” Moira claimed. “You’re hardly making a name for yourself with your freelancing!”

“Give it time! I’ve only been doing it a couple of years!”

“Writing under a different name,” Oliver reminded him.

Clark looked at his family and sighed. It was true. Part of his training with Jor-El had involved travelling around and learning about various cultures. As soon as he’d returned from training in the fortress he’d begun submitting travel articles to various newspapers and magazines. Not wanting to cash in on the name, he had chosen to use a different name. Jerome Kent was a nobody, but he preferred it that way. He had decided a long time ago that he wanted to make his own way in the world, not get a hand up just because he was Clark Queen. 

“Look, just think about it, okay?” Oliver said. “The news won’t hit the trade rags for another couple of weeks. Well, we hope. But then you know what the media is like. As soon as they sniff out a rumour they’re like a dog in heat.”

Chloe frowned at her husband. “You better not be thinking about my cousin when you say things like that.”

“No, why would I?”

“You did say she was ‘Mad Dog Lane’!”

“I can’t believe you’re still mad about that,” he returned. The couple began bickering. 

Clark looked at his mother and rolled his eyes. She grinned back at him. How those two managed to stop bickering long enough to make a baby, he didn’t know. They’d been at it for as long as they’d been together.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe and Oliver talk over the date

Chloe settled in bed beside her husband. It was fairly late. Clark had left half an hour earlier, having been alerted to an emergency in Metropolis via another of the Justice League members.

“I hate to say I told you so,” he said.

“Then don’t. Besides, I think you’re wrong.”

He propped himself up on one elbow and stared at her incredulously.

“Huh?”

“They hate each other.”

“Which is my point.”

“No, no, you don’t get it. They hate each other.”

“I’m still not following,” he said, shaking his head. 

“Haven’t you heard the expression love and hate are two sides of the same coin?”

He looked to be thinking it over for a minute or so, his brow wrinkled in a deep frown. 

“So, what you’re saying is, they only think they hate each other.”

“No, that isn’t what I said.”

“I’m still not following your logic.”

“Okay, let me spell it out. Lois ranted on the phone to me for a good half hour about how he ignored her most of the night and how he was totally obnoxious. Then Clark goes on about how she’s stuck-up and rude. I mean, have you ever known anyone to have such an effect on either of them?”

“Well, no, but …”

“Look, maybe I wasn’t there for the Lana years, but I’ve never known Clark to get this upset about a woman.”

Oliver nodded. “That is true.”

“What exactly happened between him and Lana?”

“You want the short version or the long version?”

“I want everything. All the gory details.”

“Well, you know we have these family friends in Smallville, right?”

She nodded. She knew from her mother-in-law that they’d stopped to help a couple whose truck had overturned in a ditch during the meteor shower. Robert had barely got the couple out when their truck had been rocked by a meteor crashing right next to it. If they’d been in the vehicle, they would have been seriously hurt. 

The billionaire had gone to Smallville to investigate a creamed-corn factory which was on the verge of bankruptcy. While his research had suggested there was no way he could save the Ross’ family business, he had had a proposal to put to them. He would pay for a whole new fit-out if the brothers agreed to partner him in a new research facility. 

Unfortunately, Lionel Luthor had got there first. Robert Queen and the Metropolis billionaire socialised in the same circles, but they were bitter enemies and business rivals. Luthor had bought the factory outright and turned it into a fertiliser plant, laying off several of the workers at the same time.

Having missed his chance at the factory, Robert had spent some time with Jonathan Kent and had been very interested in the Kents’ organic farming. After a few weeks of research and a lot of thought, he’d approached the couple and offered to help them grow a steady business. The farm, once struggling to meet all its costs, was now doing very well. The venture would never be a huge money-maker, but the couple, and the two children the Queens had helped them adopt, were by all reports making a very comfortable living.

Growing up, the boys had spent summers at the Kent Farm. When he was little, Clark had loved running around on the farm, helping Jonathan with feeding the animals or helping Martha with her baking, although Oliver had told Chloe he only did it so he could lick the spoon afterwards. 

Chloe listened as her husband began telling her how Clark had met Lana Lang.

“I think he was about twelve. It was the same year that I graduated from Excelsior and not long before my dad and I went out on the yacht that last time. Lana was this cute brunette about the same age as him. Her parents died in the meteor shower. Anyway, the summer he was twelve, she was helping her aunt out at this flower shop in town. Clark and I decided to take the Kents’ kids out for ice cream and he saw her. It was like time froze. He just stood there watching her.

“Anyway, he decided to ask her out for ice cream. She turned him down, flat. Then a few days later, he ran into her and she said: ‘Still want to go out for that ice cream?’”

Chloe frowned. She had never met Lana Lang. Her father had applied for a job at the Luthorcorp plant in Smallville and she would have moved with him to Smallville in her last year of junior high if he hadn’t managed to score a better-paying job in Gotham. 

Instinct told her that Lana had somehow discovered who Clark was and decided to go out with him on that basis.

“If you’re thinking what I think you’re thinking, you’d be right. She found out we were rich and that was the only reason she went out with him. At least, then.”

Chloe frowned. “That’s pretty shallow.”

“Yeah, I used to think that way too, but I don’t think it was entirely her fault. Her aunt’s kind of … well, how can I put this politely?”

She nodded. “You don’t need to draw a diagram.”

“Lana’s a nice girl, from what Mom told me. She just followed along with her aunt’s wishes.”

“So, what happened?”

“They began dating seriously when they were fourteen. Clark thought he was in love but he didn’t know that Lana didn’t reciprocate. And Nell just kept pushing them together until the poor kid didn’t know which way to turn. Then Clark’s secrets got in the way and she basically gave him an ultimatum. It was either his secret or them. Uncle Jonathan told him that any girl who would try to force him to make such a choice really wasn’t worth it.”

“Wait. Mr Kent knows about Clark?”

“Well, it was hard not to when he began bench-pressing cars. Dad told them when Clark was ten. They’ve been really great about it though. Especially when Dad and I disappeared. Mom said Clark kind of went off the rails a bit but Jonathan and Martha set him straight. Jonathan even helped him when he developed heat vision. It turns out it’s, uh, hormonally-based.”

She frowned at her husband. “Hormonally …” She considered that for a second, then realised what he meant. “Oh! Yes, I can imagine that would have been, uh, fun.” 

He continued with the story. “He and Lana sort of struggled for a bit. One minute they were off, then they were on again. Then when Clark was in his senior year at Excelsior, he and Lana were seeing each other practically every weekend. One day he came home to Star City and just about demolished the guest house.”

“Why?”

“Because he found Lana in the arms of another guy. It was this guy named Whitney. He got a football scholarship to Met U. He nearly lost it when his dad died around the same time the scouts were checking out the schools, but Mom took Dad’s seat on the university board and she made them reconsider, saying it wasn’t fair to overlook an obviously talented kid just because he’d gone through a rough patch.

“Anyway, Lana went to Mom and told her everything. The kid was in tears. I don’t think she’s a bad person, really. Just led astray by her aunt’s machinations.”

“Does Clark know any of this?”

“I don’t think so. I think he was too angry. Both at her and himself for it. He almost swore off dating but Mom convinced him that he shouldn’t shut himself off from the world just because of one girl. He did, however, make the decision never to tell anyone about his secret.”

“No wonder,” Chloe said.

“No wonder what?”

“He seems so lonely sometimes. I mean, he’s got you and your mom, but …”

“I know. We had this huge fight once. I think it was when he was in college. He said I would never be able to understand what it felt like to be different. And he’s right. I can never know how it feels, but it doesn’t mean I love him any less.” He shrugged. “He’s my brother.”

They settled down in the bed, switching off the lights. Oliver lay quietly with an arm around her waist. Chloe stroked her husband’s bare chest, her fingers lightly tracing some scars from various injuries he’d received while on the island. His first year, he hadn’t known much about natural antiseptics and the cuts and scratches he’d received hadn’t healed properly. 

Not long after he’d returned from the island, he’d been hospitalised. Doctors had discovered that he’d contracted malaria while on the island and since he’d never received treatment at the time the parasite had invaded his body, it had reactivated, making him a very sick man. Luckily, doctors were able to treat it and cure it. He still had to have annual check-ups where the doctors would do thorough examinations on all his organs but so far he was healthy.

The first couple of years he’d been patrolling as Green Arrow, he’d got hurt a few times. He’d been shot, stabbed and sucker-punched and his body was now a mish-mash of scars. He’d considered plastic surgery but she’d convinced him not to, saying his scars were part of him and didn’t change how she felt about him.

“I still think the whole date thing is a mistake,” he said.

“I don’t. I think they need each other.”

“I don’t know.”

“Lois has spent so much time trying to establish her career I think she’s forgotten that she needs a life too.”

“Sounds like someone else I know,” he said, poking her lightly in the ribs.

“I was never like that,” she said in protest. 

“Yes you were. You were always so intense, especially when hunting down a story. You would break a date with me if you thought a lead was going to pan out. I was actually kind of intimidated by that.”

“Green Arrow was intimidated by me?” she asked.

“Yes, believe it or not. I’d never known anyone quite like you. The night we met, officially anyway, I was intrigued by what I saw. I mean, you and Lois don’t look alike, but you’re both forces of nature. Besides, look at the lengths I had to go to to get you to go out with me.”

“Well, that is true,” she admitted. She turned her head to kiss him lightly on the lips. “And can I say how glad I am that you didn’t give up at the first rejection?”

She felt him smile next to her. “I guess I’m just stubborn that way.”

She snuggled close to her husband, her hand lightly resting on his chest. He’d been right about her resistance. He’d sent her flowers, chocolates, even invitations to exclusive social events, but she’d rejected them every time. Then one night he’d been patrolling in Metropolis and had been injured. She had heard about it through one of the other reporters on staff and had immediately gone to him, worried he was dying. 

His injury had been serious, but not life-threatening, and she had cleaned and bandaged the wound. When he’d asked her to stay, she hadn’t been able to say no. They’d spent the entire night just talking. Oliver sometimes joked about that night, telling her if he’d known it would take him getting injured for her to say yes, he would have done it sooner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the Clana. I'm not a fan of it, but because of the way I'd set up this story, it worked.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois decides to do some digging

Lois usually hated cleaning. She figured it had something to do with living with her father on army bases. Sam Lane had kept a tight ship, so to speak, and if even her bathroom wasn’t clean to his specifications he would hand her a toothbrush and order her to do it properly. 

When she’d got her own apartment, she had decided she was not going to follow the same rules. She let dishes pile up in the sink and didn’t take her clothes to the laundromat unless she had absolutely nothing to wear. 

Her father had visited her apartment once, taken one look at the mess, then turned and walked out again. 

The last time she had seen him, they’d ended up screaming at each other. Thankfully it had been in his office at the army base in DC, where he was now stationed. That had been about a year ago. 

Her relationship with her father had never been the best. When her mother died, he had told her she was in charge of her little sister and anything Lucy did she would have to take responsibility for. A child psychologist would have had a field day with that, she thought as she scrubbed the grout on her counter-top. 

“Speaking of relationships,” she muttered. She was going to kill Chloe. She’d told her cousin she wasn’t interested in dating, so what on Earth had possessed her to set her up on a blind date with her brother-in-law? Good cause or no, she should never have let Chloe talk her into attending. 

She continued scrubbing, grumbling as she did so. She became so absorbed in her task that she didn’t hear the buzz of the intercom for a few moments. It buzzed again and didn’t cease, as if the person had just sat their thumb on it and wasn’t letting go.

She stopped what she was doing and went to answer the buzzer, knocking over the container of cleaning powder. It fell on the floor, the plastic bursting and sending a cloud all over the kitchen. Lois coughed, waving her hand to try to disperse the cloud. 

The buzzing sound stopped, making her think that whoever it was had probably pressed the wrong button. She went to her cleaning closet and grabbed the broom, still coughing. 

Before she could start sweeping up, there was a knock on her door. The coughing fit continued, making her eyes water. They were practically streaming as she dropped the broom and went to open the door.

To her surprise, Clark Queen stood on her doorstep. He held up her wrap. She hadn’t even realised she hadn’t had it with her when she’d come home the night before.

“Uh, you left this in my car last night,” he said. He frowned as she coughed into her elbow. “Are you all right?”

He appeared to look beyond her at the cleaning powder all over the floor. He seemed to make a quick assessment, guiding her into her living room and sitting her down on the couch. She stared at him through streaming eyes as he stepped behind the kitchen counter and opened a cupboard, taking a glass and filling it with water from the tap.

She looked up at him in surprise as he returned to her side, handing her the glass of water.

“You probably inhaled some of that,” he said. 

She drank the water gratefully, relieved to note that the coughing fit eased. 

“Thanks,” she said hoarsely. 

He nodded, turning back toward the kitchen. When Lois had rented the apartment, she hadn’t liked the open-plan living area so much, mostly for the fact that she couldn’t really hide her mess from visitors. It had grown on her, however.

“Doing some cleaning?” he asked, taking in the dishes still drying in the rack and the cleaning rags. 

“So?” she said, choking a little. She sipped the water. 

“I just hadn’t figured you for the type.”

She scowled at him. “What type is that?” she asked. She stood up. Even in heels she could not possibly reach his height. In bare feet, she felt dwarfed by him. “What gives you the right to make snap judgements about me? Huh? You don’t even know me!”

He held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. “Hey, I was just making a comment. You don’t have to get so defensive!”

“I’m not getting defensive.”

“Oh, right. Sorry. My mistake.”

“You know, you’re not exactly a picnic either, Chuckles.”

“My name is Clark,” he told her. 

“Whatever! My point is, you were supposed to be my date last night. Instead you ignored me the entire time.”

“Actually, I think you have that backwards. You were supposed to be my date.”

“Same thing.”

“The invitation was for me, or rather, someone from the Queen family. Plus one. Nowhere on the list did it say Lois Lane, plus one.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “Oh, gee, I forgot who I was talking to. Next you’ll tell me you’re like twenty-fifth in line to the British throne, or something.”

He glared at her. “I didn’t come here to be insulted. I figured I would do you the courtesy of returning your wrap. That’s the last time I do anyone any favours.”

“I never asked for any!”

“Fine!”

“Fine!”

Clark went to the still open door then turned and looked at her. 

“You know something, Lane? I pity the next guy you decide to trample all over. You have got to be the most annoying woman on the entire planet. And I’ve known some.”

“What? Women? Or just people who annoy you? I would assume there’s a long line,” she shot back.

He held up his hand, pointing at her. “You … you … gah!” He turned and left the apartment. Lois moved quickly to the door.

“Yeah? Well the feeling’s mutual, Queen!” she shouted. 

He shouted something back to her in what sounded like cursing in Italian. She’d learned some of the language when her father had been based in Rome for a few months. 

She closed the door and leaned on it for a few moments, feeling irritated. What had the man expected anyway? she thought. A ticker-tape parade? So he’d brought her wrap back. Big deal. 

Her gaze fell on the glass of water she’d left on the coffee table. When he’d seen her coughing, his concern had been totally genuine. A voice in her head reminded her those weren’t the actions of the spoiled brat she had originally taken him for. 

The truth was, when she’d first heard about Clark Queen, she had thought he was a nice-looking man who appeared rather shy. She’d seen a couple of red carpet events where he had shied away from the paparazzi, the expression on his face suggesting he was uncomfortable being in the spotlight.

She hadn’t asked Oliver much about his younger brother. All she knew was that he’d been adopted by their parents when they’d learned his real parents had been killed in a meteor shower. How it must have hurt when he’d lost his father over ten years ago. 

Oliver had appeared resigned to the fact that his little brother was not going to be able to be at his wedding three years earlier. A little disappointed, sure, but not as much as Lois would have expected him to be, considering how close the brothers apparently were. 

Which begged the question: where was Clark when Oliver and Chloe got married and why did the family choose not to make such a big deal out of it?

Her spider sense was tingling. 

She decided to go online and see what she could find out about Oliver’s brother. After a few hours of searching it turned out not much. 

Clark avoided the media spotlight. From what she had read from her Google search, there was not much to go on. She knew he’d gone to Excelsior Preparatory Academy and skipped a couple of grades. She discovered he’d graduated from Metropolis University with a Masters degree in journalism. So why wasn’t he working as a journalist? she wondered. 

There were the usual press photos but in most of them he’d turned his head, so the photographer only managed to get his profile. Yet she’d seen enough to know he was a very good-looking man, even with the glasses. 

She sat back in her chair, confused by the lack of surrounding light. It had fallen dark while she’d been researching, the only light in the room emanating from the screen of the laptop. She got up and stretched, her back protesting after hours of sitting in a wooden chair without a break. 

She looked around, remembering that she hadn’t even finished cleaning the grout on the counter. She’d become so preoccupied with searching for information about Clark Queen that she’d forgotten everything else and it was now almost dinnertime.

“Admit it, the guy intrigues you,” she told herself. 

That did not mean, however, she thought, that she was actually interested in dating the guy. No way, no how. 

Deciding she wasn’t going to get any more information online, she closed the lid of the laptop with a snap. It looked like if she was going to find out more about Clark, she would have to do it the old-fashioned way. By phone.

She was surprised when Moira Queen picked up the phone.

“Oh, Mrs Queen. I was looking for Chloe.”

“She’s not here, Lois. She and Oliver have gone shopping.”

“Translate, she’s dragged him out shopping,” Lois said with a laugh. The older woman chuckled.

“Oh, so true. I hear you went out with my son last night.”

“I only did it as a favour to Chloe. No offence, Mrs Q, but what is his deal? I mean, he ignored me the entire time!”

“Really? I talked to Clark and he implied it was the other way around. Did you not like him?”

“Ahh, there really is no good way to answer that, is there?”

Moira laughed.

“No, I suppose not. I’m sorry it didn’t work out. Clark really isn’t as bad as you think he is.”

“He barely spoke a word to me when we met.”

“Did you stop to think that perhaps he might be a little shy?”

She frowned. All the stuff she had read implied he just didn’t like the media and she’d assumed that was why he hardly spoke to her the whole night. Was she misjudging him?

“I guess not.”

“You should try to get to know him. He’s really very sweet.”

Sweet? No, that wasn’t a word she would use to describe Clark Queen. Maybe his mother was right and the man was kind of shy, but after the way he’d spoken to her earlier she would never even consider the idea of getting to know him better. He probably felt the same way about her. 

“I’ll think about it,” she told Moira. “Anyway, enough about Clark. How are you?”

“Oh, I’m fine, sweetie,” the older woman said. 

Lois had, of course, met Oliver’s mother at the wedding and they’d chatted infrequently via Facebook a few times. Moira clearly valued her close relationship with both of her sons and, by her own admission, was rather nosy when it came to wanting to know almost every detail of their lives, especially their friendships. 

One of the things Lois liked about the older woman was that she didn’t put on airs. She might be fairly wealthy but she was so down-to-earth. Lois had found herself asking the other woman for advice from time to time. 

She continued to chat with the woman, telling her about the Prankster and some other crooks she’d gone up against.

“Oh, I do hope you’re being careful,” Moira said, sounding worried. 

The last thing she wanted to do was worry her so she skipped around the subject of her last run-in with the Prankster. Thank goodness for Superman, she thought. 

After a few more minutes of chatting, she reluctantly said goodbye and rang off. The conversation hadn’t really changed her opinion of Clark, but at least it had given her some insight into the man.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark learns of an article which complicates his life

_Clark, you better have a look at the Inquisitor._

Clark frowned at the text from his brother. He turned to the Watchtower computer and accessed the tabloid newspaper’s website, then groaned. 

#Clois came up under one of the trending topics. He clicked on the link and groaned even louder. It was the paper’s gossip column. A full-size photo of him and Lois Lane walking into the Ace of Clubs could be seen.

“Why me?” he moaned. 

“Hey Stretch, everything ok?”

Clark turned to look at his friend Bart Allen. They’d known each other since they were teenagers. He’d run into the speedster, who had been nicknamed the Flash, when he’d treated Jonathan Kent and his son to a football game in Metropolis his senior year at Excelsior. Bart had stolen the older man’s wallet. 

He’d asked his brother to help him find the youth and they’d tracked him down to a fleabag motel in Suicide Slum. Bart had been unrepentant, but when Clark had discovered the teen was homeless and living off the proceeds of his thefts, he had offered to help him out. 

The speedster had taken a little time to trust Clark but once he realised the Queens were just trying to help set him on the right path, he had accepted a job working for Oliver, who had begun working on using the Green Arrow persona and was investigating various incidents with meta-humans. 

“It’s fine,” he told the other man. 

Bart nodded, looking over Clark’s shoulder at the headline. 

“You and Lois Lane?”

Clark shook his head and sighed. “I have one date with the woman - not by choice, by the way, and the Inquisitor has practically got us engaged. It was at that Save the Rainforests thing at the Ace of Clubs on Saturday.”

“Aw, man, that sucks! You two make a good-looking couple, though.”

“Are you kidding? She thinks I’m a geek.”

Bart canted his head and looked at him. “Hate to break it to you, Stretch, but you are a geek. And I mean that in the nicest possible way.”

“Thanks, I think.”

“No, seriously. There’s nothing wrong with being a geek. I have this friend. Iris. She thinks I’m the biggest geek on the planet. Nothing to do with me studying forensics or anything. Anyway, despite that, we’re like real close. I’ve known her since I was like five.”

Clark sighed, reading the comments. 

“Ugh, you should see the way some of these people gush. And there’s this one guy who says something like, ‘bet she’s only with him for his money’. These people don’t even know me. Or her. Where do they get the nerve coming up with stuff like that?”

“It’s just a rag, Clark. Don’t pay any attention to it.”

He closed down the page but couldn’t help worrying about it. What would this do to the family’s negotiations for the Daily Planet? Had Oliver and Chloe even thought about the impact it might have on those negotiations? 

An emergency call prevented him from going to his brother’s office to discuss the problem. He flew off, while Bart opted to stay behind in Watchtower and keep an eye out for anything more.

While Watchtower was in Metropolis, it acted as the central hub for all Justice League members. Usually they had one person monitoring all activity and keeping in communication with the members in each city within North America. While crimes were down in many of the cities, they also had various disasters that sometimes necessitated aid from one or more of them. Clark had been called away a month earlier to help out at a forest fire down under and the month before that there had been a volcanic eruption in Asia. 

The latest alert was an armed robbery at the Metropolis First National Bank. The robbers had taken hostages. Clark flew in and quickly dispatched the robbers, making sure no one was hurt. As he turned to leave, he saw Lois at the door.

“Superman?” she said, waving her hand. 

He reluctantly approached her. “Miss Lane?”

“Uh, so can I get a quote for my story?”

“Of course,” he said politely. “Perhaps we should move out of the way of the police trying to do their jobs.”

She nodded, following him outside and a few feet away from the entrance.

“So, uh, was anyone hurt?”

“No, thankfully. I was able to stop them before anything happened.”

She scribbled something on her notepad.

“You’d think they’d learn, wouldn’t you?” she mused.

“Excuse me?”

“Well, I mean, you’ve been here two years. In Metropolis, I mean. You’d think the robbers would know better than to try to rob a bank in your city.”

“Unfortunately, Miss Lane, there will always be someone who will think they can succeed, but as long as I am able to, I will always do my best to protect the citizens of Metropolis.”

“Thank you, Superman.” She stopped scribbling and looked up at him. “Uh, so, I was wondering … where do you go?”

He frowned at her. “Go?”

“Well, when you’re off duty, and stuff.”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“Well, you must have a family. What do you do when you’re not being a superhero?”

“Is this on-the-record?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No. I was just … curious.”

“Then please allow me to be frank, Miss Lane. If the people of Metropolis knew the details of my personal life, then my enemies would more than likely target those I care about in order to get to me. Do you understand?” he asked gently. 

She sent him a look of sympathy. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I guess I never saw it from your angle.”

“That’s all right,” he said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to speak to the detective before I go.”

“Thank you for being so honest with me,” she said. 

It was a vast difference from the way she had interacted with him on Saturday. Then again, he realised, she thought she was dealing with a completely different person. At least she knew how to behave professionally. It gave him hope that she wasn’t quite as stuck-up as she had appeared.

He approached Detective John Jones. The older man had dark skin and close-cropped black hair. Few people knew he was not even human. 

“That looked a rather intense conversation,” J’onn said, nodding his head toward Lois. Clark nodded. 

“Yeah.”

“I saw the Inquisitor.”

He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, so did about five million other people, judging from the way it’s ‘trending’,” he said, crooking his fingers in an airquote. “It’s totally not true, FYI. I had one date with the woman. One! And it was a blind date.”

He knew it was the price he paid for being a member of a prominent family. It didn’t mean he had to like it. 

“I should go. I need to discuss something with Oliver.”

J’onn nodded. “If I need anything, I know where to find you.”

Clark launched himself into the air and flew over Metropolis, putting on a burst of speed and heading for Star City. He arrived within minutes, touching down on the roof of Queen Towers. He looked around before heading to the main door and walked down a flight of stairs to the penthouse. Oliver usually kept it for when he and Chloe were entertaining for business purposes, preferring to only use the mansion for friends and family. 

Clark would stay in the penthouse if his presence was required at the business meeting, although Oliver usually let him decide if he needed to be there. 

He pressed his thumb to the scanner beside the door and waited for the lock to click before entering the apartment. He kept a change of clothes in his bedroom for the odd occasion when he needed to be at a business meeting or just needed to talk to his brother without his alter ego being exposed. 

Two minutes later, Clark left the penthouse and headed downstairs to the office suite. A redhead about his age sat at the main desk. She looked up at him, her eyes huge behind the steel-rimmed glasses she wore.

“Mr Queen, I’m sorry, your brother’s in a meeting.”

“This is rather important,” he said. “Can you buzz him? Please, Linda. I wouldn’t ask unless it was important.”

She hesitated, but nodded. “Okay.” She pressed a button on her phone and spoke into her headset. “Mr Queen? Your brother’s here. He says it’s important.” She paused, listening. “Yes sir.”

She took off the headset and stood up. “He said to let you through.”

As she started to walk down the hallway, she looked at him. 

“Is it true you’re dating a reporter from the Daily Planet?” she asked. 

“You’ve been reading the Inquisitor,” he said.

“Actually, it’s been on Twitter. Is it true?”

“No,” he said with a frown. “She just came with me to a social function. I had an extra ticket and she was available.”

“Oh. Good,” she murmured. 

Clark was a little taken aback. While Linda was an attractive girl, he hadn’t even considered dating his brother’s executive assistant. Not that it was wrong. He hadn’t dated much since Lana Lang. Given how that had gone, he wasn’t sure he wanted to take the chance.

Linda took the lanyard from her neck and swiped her plastic card over the reader. There was an electronic beep and he pushed the door open. 

“Thanks Linda,” he said, giving her a smile. 

She bit her lip. “You’re welcome.” She stood just on the side of the doorway, as if considering something. “Um, Mr Queen, I know it’s awfully forward, but … would you like to have coffee sometime? With me, I mean? I know I’m your brother’s assistant and everything, but I … well, I think you’re really nice and … oh, god, stop me now before I make a total fool of myself!” She was blushing beet red.

He wanted to turn her down, but he didn’t have the heart. She was not only a great assistant, according to his brother, but from all accounts she seemed to be a very nice person. 

“Coffee would be nice,” he said, keeping his smile neutral. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, he thought. “Why don’t I give you a call?”

Her smile was one of relief. “That would be great.”

He watched her walk quickly back along the hallway, the back slit in her skirt revealing her stocking-covered legs. She was not very tall, being probably only about five feet, with a body that bordered on plump rather than slender, but he didn’t mind that. He’d fallen for an illusion once and that had been the biggest mistake he’d ever made when it came to women.

Oliver greeted him when he entered.

“Clark. Glad you’re here.”

He noticed a stocky man with thinning sandy, blond hair sitting in the seat opposite Oliver. A coffee cup sat on the desk in front of him. 

“I was just saying to Perry he should meet you.”

“Perry?” he asked.

The man stood up and smiled at him in greeting.

“Perry White. Editor of the Daily Planet. Mr Queen.” He held out his hand and Clark shook it automatically, almost forgetting to hold back on his strength. “Nice grip there, son.”

“Daily Planet?” Clark asked as they sat down again. 

“Your brother was just telling me about the buyout.”

Oliver nodded. “It looks like the paperwork is being finalised sooner than we thought. We’ll be able to take over the paper by the end of the week.” He scratched his nose. “Uh, so I was just about to tell Perry we offered you the post as publisher.”

Clark frowned at his brother. “I told you I wanted to think about it.”

“What’s to think about? You’re the most qualified.”

“A masters in Journalism. Not in business!”

“Clark, you’ve practically been around the business your whole life. There isn’t that much to learn. It’s your interest in journalism that we need.”

“I don’t know.”

“Your brother does have a point,” Perry interjected. “Our old publisher, Franklin Stern, well, he’s a businessman, but knows almost nothing about journalism, or the pursuit of a story. I’ve read your work. Both from the Met U Gazette and your freelance stuff.”

Clark stared at the older man. How did he know about the freelance articles? Perry grinned. 

“Oliver mentioned it when we were setting up this meeting. You’re a good writer, Mr Queen.”

“Clark, please.”

“Clark then.”

“What about the gossip column in the Inquisitor?” Clark asked. He looked at his brother. “That’s what I came to talk to you about.”

“Look, there’s nothing we can do about the gossip column. The milk is spilled. We just have to deal with it.”

“’The milk is spilled’? Where did you pick up that platitude from?” Oliver grinned at him.

“Uncle Jonathan. All I’m saying is, if we deny it, it will just add fuel to the fire. We both know the Inquisitor is just out to cause trouble.”

“Do you think they know about the negotiation?”

“If they did, they would have printed something by now,” Perry spoke up.

Oliver nodded. “That’s true. I …” His intercom buzzed and he pressed the button. “Yes, Linda?”

“Um, Lois Lane is on the phone and she sounds, uh, upset.”

Oliver sighed. “Put her through.” He looked at Clark and shrugged as he pressed the button to pick up the call. “Lois?”

“Where is your jerk brother and why isn’t he answering his phone?”

Clark looked helplessly at Oliver. He’d left his phone in Watchtower when he’d gone to attend the bank robbery.

“He’s right here, Lois, We’re actually in the middle of a meeting. Could you call back …”

“No, I will not call back! Have you seen the Inquisitor?” She began muttering angrily.

“Lois, calm down! Yes, we’ve seen the Inquisitor! In fact, we were just discussing the column.” Oliver looked up. “Clark, you want to take this?”

He shot his brother a look. “Lois, I’m as upset about it as you are, but …”

“Upset? Upset?” He winced at the screech. “I have gone beyond upset, Queen. This is all your fault! You better be thankful I’m not flying all the way to Star City so I can kick your ungrateful ass.”

“Now, hold on just a minute, Lane!” Perry interrupted. “You better calm yourself down, young lady, before you say something you will really regret, and let Clark have his say.”

She gulped audibly. “Uh, Chief?”

“Count to ten, Lois, before you start hyperventilating. I told you I had a meeting in Star City.”

“I didn’t know you were actually there, Chief,” she said. “I’m, uh, sorry I …”

“It’s not me you should be apologising to. It’s young Clark. Trust me, he is just as unhappy as you are and getting angry at him for something he had no control over is not going to help the situation.”

There was a long pause.

“You’re right. I’m sorry. It’s just, I was out at this bank robbery and well, I was on my way back to the office when I was ambushed.”

“Lois, I’m sorry that happened,” Oliver said. “This was Chloe’s idea and frankly I didn’t think it was such a great idea.”

She sounded much calmer when she spoke again. 

“It’s not that. I mean, Chloe meant well. It was just the fact that now I’m being followed around by the Paparazzi and there was really nothing to the date.”

Clark sighed. This was exactly what he was afraid of. Being part of such a well-known, not to mention wealthy family, meant anyone even remotely connected with them was going to be hounded by the press. 

“Lois, I wish there was something I could do to fix this, but Oliver was just saying that if we deny it, then it will just add fuel to the fire.”

“If you want my two cents’, I think the two of you just need to lay low until things calm down. Since you’re not really dating, the Inquisitor’s story won’t get any traction and people will move on to the next big thing.”

“Perry’s right, Lois. I’m sorry that Chloe got you into this mess but if we just go on as if nothing’s happened, then it’ll blow over.”

Clark realised both Perry and Oliver were right. The general public were very fickle when it came to these things. They’d soon find something else to gossip about and his and Lois’ one non-date date would be forgotten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lois makes a very big mistake near the end of this chapter. I'm not trying to make her unlikable. I happen to think she can just be a bit impulsive and bit hot-tempered, so she often does things without thinking things through. 
> 
> I also think that because of what happened to Oliver, that would give the family a certain celebrity status and would also attract the Paparazzi. Think of them as like a certain 'reality tv' family, without the cheese. In the case of this story, they don't go out looking for notoriety. All I'll say is, there is a method to my madness.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois, angry at herself about her behaviour, decides to make it up to Clark

Lois glared at herself in the mirror as she back-combed her wavy hair, preparing to put it up in a French knot.

She’d had trouble getting to sleep for a couple of nights, her mind so full of the things she’d said to Oliver and Clark. She’d been mortified to learn that her boss was also in the office. Worse than that, she was angry at herself for behaving so unprofessionally. No matter how much she disliked Clark, he hadn’t deserved her screeching at him like a fishwife.

She wondered what Perry would say when he got in. She’d be lucky if he didn’t suspend her. 

“God, you’re an idiot!” she berated herself. What the hell had she been thinking? 

Just because Oliver was married to her cousin, it didn’t give her the right to scream at him over the phone over something none of them had had any control over. Clark had even said it himself the night of the benefit. They weren’t dating. It wasn’t his fault the Inquisitor had made something out of nothing. 

She sighed as she put the brush down on the dresser. She really needed to apologise properly. Trouble was, she didn’t know where he lived. Although that would be easily solved. She knew guys who knew guys. She bet they could find it out for her.

Hmm, maybe she should send him a fruit basket? 

She dressed with care in a black skirt with box pleats and a belted red silk blouse. It was her ‘power’ outfit. She knew she looked good in it and it also made it easier for her to face the wrath of her editor. 

Anxiety caused a knot to form in her stomach as she left her apartment building, walking briskly toward the bus stop a hundred yards away. She had a car but she chose not to use it. Parking was not provided by the Daily Planet and a couple of times her car had been broken into when it had been left on the street. It was cheaper to use public transport.

A car turned in front of her as she started to cross the street. She rolled her eyes as a balding man got out and aimed a camera at her.

“Point that camera somewhere else before I do something we’ll both regret, Donner,” she said. 

“You threatening me, Lane?” he asked.

“You’ll know when I’m threatening you.”

She heard the sound of an engine coughing and sighed. Her bus had just passed the stop. “Thanks! I just missed my bus.”

The Inquisitor reporter-slash-photographer leered at her. “I’ll give you a ride. If you give me the real story on you and Clark Queen.”

She was about to tell him there was no story but remembered Oliver and Clark had told her denying it would only make matters worse. She pushed past the man and began walking away. 

“No!”

“Ah, come on, Lois, professional courtesy!”

She paused and glared at him. “Professional courtesy, my ass.” He continued to snap photos of her. She raised her hand in an attempt to shield herself. “Donner, you are officially the lowest form of life in the universe. Stop taking those pictures.”

The man lowered his camera and smirked at her. “What are you going to do about it?” he asked. 

She didn’t have the chance to respond. Superman flew down.

“I would be very careful, Mr Donner. I heard there were solar flares expected today.”

The man from the tabloid stared up at the tall superhero. “Solar flares?”

Superman nodded. “I heard they can damage photographic equipment. Perhaps you should leave Miss Lane alone and find something else to do. Preferably indoors.”

Lois stared, trying to keep a straight face as the superhero ducked his head and gazed intently for just a second at the camera. Donner didn’t notice a thing. He got in his car and drove away. 

“Thank you,” she said. 

He nodded and made as if to take off. She bit her lip. 

“Um …” He looked at her. 

“I’m sorry, Miss Lane, I was just passing on my way to something else when I saw that man pestering you. Please excuse me.”

She sighed, knowing she had no right to monopolise his time. She might have scored the first real interview with Superman, but she wasn’t the only one who needed him. 

She watched him fly away before walking to the bus stop. She sat down on the bench to wait, hoping the next one wouldn’t be too full. As she took her phone from her purse to check when the next bus was due, it rang. She looked at the caller i.d. and picked up the call.

“Chloe. You’re up early.”

“Ollie had an early, uh, business call,” her cousin said. “Listen, we’re going to be in Metropolis over the weekend. Mom wants to have a family dinner.”

Lois bit her lip. “Uh, I don’t know, Chloe. You know I’m not good with those family gathering things.”

“Please come, Lois. Mom will be disappointed if you don’t.”

After the way she had acted the other day, she was reluctant to face her cousin’s family. Yet she couldn’t just give her cousin an outright no either. 

“Let me see how full my calendar is,” she said, making a mental note to invent something just so she could get out of it.

“Okay, well, call me later when you know,” Chloe said, her tone suggesting she knew exactly what Lois was going to do.

Lois made it into work an hour later, quietly fuming. The bus had been extremely full and the driver almost hadn’t let her on, until she’d begged and pleaded with him. She could have taken a taxi, she supposed, but she barely had enough cash to last until payday, which was in a week. She’d maxed out her credit card and the bank wasn’t going to extend her credit. 

An intern stared at her as she walked in and quickly backed away from her. Lois frowned, wondering what that was about. As she helped herself to the muck that passed for coffee and grabbed a donut, she felt as if a million pairs of eyes were on her. She looked around and realised there were a few staff members staring at her.

“What?” she asked. 

They all averted their gazes hastily, pretending to be busy. She huffed and walked away, planning to head up to her second-floor office. Just as she started to open the door, a blonde grabbed it from the other side, pushing it into her and spilling lukewarm coffee all over her blouse. 

“That’s just great!” she growled.

“Sorry, didn’t see you.” Cat Grant was annoyingly perky for so early in the morning. Then again, she was always annoyingly perky. “You might want to clean that up before you go upstairs. Perry’s back from Star City and he’s looking for you.”

When it rains, it pours, she thought with a heavy sigh. She dumped her bag on her desk and the coffee cup and donut beside it before once more leaving her office and going to the bathroom to try to clean the stain off her blouse. 

A few minutes later, her blouse now completely ruined, she knocked on the door of Perry’s office. 

“Enter!”

Lois opened the door and went in. Perry looked at her from behind his desk.

“Great Caesar’s Ghost, Lane! You’re an hour late!”

Well, that was a bit of an exaggeration, but she gathered she was not in his good books, so she decided to just take it on the chin.

“I’m sorry, Chief,” she said. 

He scowled at her. “You know, I’ve a good mind to suspend you after Monday’s antics. What in tarnation possessed you to …” He stopped mid-sentence. Lois was not normally the type to cry but she suddenly found her eyes welling up with tears. 

“I know, Chief,” she said, unsurprised to hear her voice shaking. “I acted badly and I wouldn’t blame you if you did. There’s no excuse.”

Perry got up, handing her a tissue. “Aw, hell, kid, I don’t mean to yell. I’d be upset too, if I were in your place.” He sat on the corner of the desk. “I know Oliver’s married to your cousin and all, but you can’t just go screaming at someone the way you did.”

She nodded. Oliver’s assistant had told her he was in a meeting but she had demanded to be put through anyway. She’d been so angry she hadn’t even thought rationally about the whole situation. 

“What are you going to do about it?” he asked.

She shrugged. “What can I do, apart from go talk to Clark and make it up to him somehow. I shouldn’t have blamed him.”

“Well, that’s a good start. Now, I know you’re curious as to why I was meeting with the Queens. You need to keep this to yourself for now, at least until the announcement on Friday.”

“What announcement, Chief?”

“Oliver has bought the Daily Planet.”

She stared at him, eyes wide. “What?”

He nodded. “They’ve been negotiating for months, but from what Ollie told me, the family tried to buy the Planet once before. When Robert was alive. The purchase was blocked by Lionel Luthor.”

Lionel Luthor had been dead for about five years. His son Alexander, otherwise known as Lex, had taken over Luthorcorp and renamed it LexCorp. Lois had been quietly investigating LexCorp as a source had told her about some dodgy business practices. 

Damn! She’d mentioned something about Lex at the benefit on Saturday. He’d been the first man she could think of when she’d been arguing with Clark, but the bald billionaire was definitely not her type. He was ruthless and by all accounts a cold, unfeeling bastard. She’d known of a few people who had barely come out of an encounter with Lex Luthor unscathed. 

Well, she thought as she returned to her office, at least with Oliver taking over the Daily Planet, there would be less chance of censorship. Chloe wouldn’t stand for it. While she had been known to cut ethical corners now and again as a high school reporter, she now had extremely high standards. If anything, Lois expected the Planet would become even more hard-hitting. It had built its reputation on hiring the best and brightest in journalism and it showed in the stories it published. 

Lois tried to concentrate on her work, wrapping up her series on the Prankster and working on another investigative piece. She had almost forgotten her thoughts about tracking Clark Queen down and sending him something to make up for her blunder until her phone rang. 

“Lois Lane,” she said.

“Lane, how’s it hangin’?”

“Tell me you have something for me, TJ.”

“Clark Queen has a penthouse apartment in the clock tower. About two blocks from the Planet.”

She got up and looked out the window and could see the clock tower he meant. 

“Thanks, TJ. I owe you big time.”

“Yeah, and one of these days I’ll collect. So, I heard you and Queen were dating.”

She continued to stare at the clock tower. “No, we’re not.”

“But the Inquisitor …” TJ was quiet for a moment. “Want me to rough him up for you? I mean, if the guy dumped you …”

“He didn’t dump me. We had one date, and it wasn’t even really a date. Anyway, it’s not him who needs a good kick in the heinie. Um, look, TJ, I appreciate the thought, but that’s not why I needed the address.”

“Well, if you need anything else, you know where to find me.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

She went back to her computer and began looking online for gift baskets. There were a few companies she could use. The baskets were expensive, but she figured she’d just have to eat noodles the rest of the week. It was not as if she was a good cook anyway. 

After work was over for the day, she walked out, doing her best to avoid the rest of her colleagues. She walked down the street to the store where she had ordered the gift basket and picked it up. The man who handed her the basket grinned at her.

“That’s quite a gift. Who’s the lucky guy?”

She shook her head. “Just a … friend,” she said. 

He leaned on the counter. “Well, if this, uh, friend doesn’t like it, bring it back here. I know I’d enjoy it.”

She frowned at his poor attempt at flirting but didn’t comment. She quietly thanked him for the quick service and left. 

She nibbled on her bottom lip nervously as the elevator took her up to the clock tower penthouse. She’d rehearsed her speech a hundred times in her head but didn’t know if she could even get it out. 

When the door opened, she found herself in a huge living area. A bookshelf lined one wall. It was filled with books ranging from Shakespeare plays to novels by some of her favourite authors. 

She heard the sound of bare feet padding on tile and turned, staring at the sight of Clark Queen, wearing nothing but loose pants. She’d known from the suit he’d been wearing the other night that he had a fairly decent body, but now that she was faced with that broad, bare chest, it was so much more than she had pictured.

“Uh …” Why was her mouth so dry? She nervously licked her lips. Clark’s green-eyed gaze followed the action. He smiled, showing slightly pointed incisors.

“Is that for me?” he asked, waving his hand. 

Her eyes widened. “Uh, what?”

“The basket.”

She realised she still had the huge basket in her hand. “Oh, uh, yes?”

He appeared amused. “Is that a statement or a question?”

“Um …” She lifted the basket and thrust it at him. The wicker connected with his chest. Clark took it without comment and set it down on a table. He picked up a green apple and offered it to her. 

“Like apples?”

“What?”

“Do … you … like … apples?” he repeated.

“Oh. Yes, but I … I’m not hungry. Thank you.”

“So, what can I do for you?” he asked.

“Well, I … I wanted to, um … the other day, I was rude and I wanted to say I’m sorry.”

“Which time? The phone call in Oliver’s office or the day I came over to your apartment to bring back your wrap.”

“Uh, the first one, I mean, both, I mean … God,” she muttered. “Stop babbling like an idiot.” She bowed her head, feeling her cheeks burning with humiliation, deciding she needed to save face and get out of there before she made things worse. 

“Lois?”

She turned and looked at him. “Yes?” she asked hopefully.

“I appreciate the gesture. But if you want to make it up to me, or to the family, then come to dinner here on Friday. I know Chloe really wants you there. So does my mom.”

She bit her lip. “Chloe told you she asked me?”

He nodded. “She got the sense you didn’t want to come. Yes, you were rude the other day, but I can understand why. The thing is, you can’t spend the rest of your life avoiding us because of it.”

He was right. She wanted to be part of her cousin’s life. If she chose to avoid the issue, she would just end up hurting Chloe. 

“You’re right. Okay, I’ll be here.”

He smiled. She had to admit, he had a beautiful smile. 

“Great! I’ll expect you at six-thirty.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois apologises, the family make an announcement

Clark laughed quietly to himself as Lois left. Perry had called him shortly after the reporter had left his office, telling him she had been extremely upset and deeply apologetic for her actions the other day. He had been surprised when his doorman had called and told him Lois was on the way up with a huge fruit basket. 

He looked at the gift. Rather an unusual way to apologise, but from what the editor had told him, Lois had a habit of putting her foot in it then making some kind of gesture to make up for it. It must have cost her a small fortune. Not that he cared how much she’d spent. It had been appreciated all the same.

He bit into the apple he’d offered her and picked up some papers from the table he’d been meaning to study before the announcement on Friday. As uncertain as he had been about taking over as publisher of the Daily Planet, both his brother and Perry had made a lot of sense. The newspaper needed someone who actually knew the journalism business and was interested in producing quality reporting, not someone who cared more about making a profit.

It wasn’t as if they actually needed the revenue, he thought. Queen Industries was doing very well for itself. 

They would be calling a press conference to make the announcement. Perry had told him that he was going to get his best business reporter to cover the story. Since Lois was the staff investigative reporter, not to mention the fact that she was related to them by marriage, she had been told in no uncertain terms that she was to steer clear. She could be at the press conference but as an observer, not as a participant. 

His housekeeper came in as he finished reading the documents.

“Your dinner is in the oven. If there is nothing else you’ll be needing tonight, Mr Queen, I’ll take my leave.”

He nodded. “Thank you, Mrs Adams. Have a good night.”

“You too, sir,” she said with a smile.

Clark watched her go. His mother had insisted he at least have someone to cook his meals and keep his apartment clean. Despite his abilities, and the two years he’d spent travelling and taking care of himself, she worried about him alone in the penthouse. She was subtly hinting it was time he settled down and found someone but given the problems he’d had in the past, he wasn’t sure he wanted the hassle of dating only to find they were only with him because of his money. 

As much as they had not gotten along on the date, Clark had noticed that Lois didn’t treat him any differently than she would anyone else. She didn’t seem to care who he was or how much money he had.

Oliver had told him that when he’d first met Lois, she had punched him in the arm and told him he’d better treat her cousin well, or else. If Chloe hadn’t already warned him about her cousin’s tendency to follow up on those threats, he would have laughed it off. Despite her apparent abrasiveness, when she loved, she loved wholeheartedly and was loyal to a fault. She was far from perfect, according to Chloe, but then again, who was? 

God knew, he had his share of faults. As a child, he’d been frustrated, hampered by the fact that he was unable to just use his abilities whenever he wanted. As he’d matured, he’d begun to realise exactly why that was. His parents had often warned him there were unscrupulous people out there who would exploit him. He’d learned that lesson the hard way when his father had died. He still didn’t know all the details but Oliver had told him it had something to do with the Luthors. 

He’d had a couple of run-ins with Lex, as Superman. The man had made it very clear he didn’t like Superman and would do anything to expose him as a liar – that he wasn’t there to protect the people of Metropolis. As far as Lex was concerned he was dangerous and not to be trusted.

He took off his glasses and pinched his nose tiredly. There were times when he forgot he was wearing them. As much as he had hated the idea, Oliver had made a good point. He didn’t want people recognising him. As Superman, he also had a transmitter hidden inside the suit which allowed him to project a slightly different image of himself. That way, anyone who knew him when he was younger would also not recognise Superman as the youngest Queen. 

He rose from the couch and went into the kitchen to check on his dinner. The housekeeper had put the oven on a timer so he wouldn’t forget to pull it out. It still had about five minutes which meant he had time to call home.

His mother answered. While they had a housekeeper and a couple of maids, she preferred to do most things herself.

“Hi Mom.”

“Hello darling. Is everything all right?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. I just wanted to tell you I talked to Lois and she’s coming to dinner on Friday.”

“That’s wonderful, sweetheart. Your brother’s still at work, but Chloe’s here. Did you want to talk to her?”

“No, that’s okay, Mom. I’ll see her on Friday.”

“All right.” She paused. “What have you been up to today?”

“Not much. Just researching for an article. Lois came over. She brought a fruit basket as an apology for the other day.” His mother sighed. 

“Oh, that poor dear. When I talked to Perry, he said she was beside herself. I hope you weren’t too harsh with her.”

“No, Mom. I promise.”

“That’s good.” The oven timer dinged loudly. “Is that the oven?” she asked.

“Yeah. The housekeeper left dinner for me.”

“Well, I should let you go eat. I love you, honey.”

“Love you too, Mom. See you in a couple days.”

That Friday afternoon, an hour before the press conference, Clark headed to the Daily Planet to meet with Perry. As he walked up the stairs to the tenth floor, he bumped into someone coming the other way. 

“Hey, watch it!” The woman looked up, her eyes widening. “Uh, Clark. I didn’t … what are you doing here?”

He knew she’d been told about Oliver’s purchase of the Planet but didn’t know exactly how much she had been told. 

“I’m just going to a meeting with Perry.” He looked her over. She was wearing a pink blouse today with a charcoal grey wool skirt and a jacket in the same fabric. While it was attractive, it looked a little too much ‘power suit’ to him, making him wonder if she was wearing it as some kind of armour. He didn’t know her that well but she gave off the impression that she put up a lot of walls to protect herself. “Anyway, the press conference is in an hour. Are you going to be there?”

Her smile was a little wobbly. “Uh, sure. I guess. I mean, I’m not allowed to cover the story. Conflict of interest and all that, but I guess I could provide some moral support.”

He smiled. “It’s not my first press conference,” he said.

“I wasn’t meaning you,” she said crossly. “I meant your Mom.”

He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, Lane.”

She huffed. “Well, I suppose you can’t be all bad with a Mom that cool.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

She punched his shoulder. “Enjoy it while it lasts, Queen, but don’t get a swelled head over it.”

He shook his head, trying to think of something witty to retort. Lois smirked at him and carried on downstairs. He sighed and continued up to Perry’s office, wishing she didn’t affect him as much as she did. 

The press conference was being held in the foyer of the Daily Planet. They’d invited reporters from all the local media. Unfortunately that also meant someone from the Inquisitor was in attendance. Clark looked over the assembled reporters, looking for Donner. He spotted the balding man in the crowd. 

Oliver stepped up to the makeshift podium. Perry stood beside him, while Chloe and their mother were behind Oliver. Clark quickly looked around for Lois and saw her standing on the stairs. She obviously spotted him and sent him a nod.

Oliver cleared his throat.

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming. As of three o’clock this afternoon, Queen Industries is now the owner and publisher of the Daily Planet.”

There were a few murmurs among the reporters. Some put their hands up for questions. His brother held up his hand and gestured for them to put their hands down. 

“We’ll have time for questions in a few minutes. Now, we know the Daily Planet has a proud tradition dating back at least two hundred years and has a reputation for hard-hitting journalism. We hope to continue that tradition. Yes, there will need to be some restructuring. Technology has changed and newspapers need to change with it.”

Clark tuned out as Oliver continued, watching the reaction from the crowd. Most of them didn’t seem too perturbed, although a few of them began fidgeting as the speech went on, clearly itching to ask questions.

He heard his name mentioned and looked up, realising Oliver was gesturing toward him.

“You all know my brother. Clark has agreed to take up the post as publisher.”

He glanced up at Lois, who looked stunned at this news. 

“Now, we’ll take some questions from the floor.”

Donner raised his hand. “Mr Queen, there are rumours that your brother is in a relationship with a reporter on the Daily Planet. Given that you’re now the owner, wouldn’t that be a conflict of interest?”

Oliver glared pointedly at the reporter.

“Rumours which, by all accounts, you started, Mr Donner. And as far as I’m concerned, there is no conflict of interest.”

Oliver had explained it all to him in their meeting. He wouldn’t have editorial input as such, as he would be dealing mostly with the Planet’s legal and business teams. He would technically be the boss of the editor-in-chief and all department heads would report to both of them. He wouldn’t be assigning stories and would have little or no interaction with the reporters. 

“I believe I know what you’re getting at, Mr Donner, and if you’re about to suggest there is any impropriety in our company’s purchase of the Daily Planet, then you may find yourself on the wrong end of a defamation suit. For those of you who do not know my company’s history, my father attempted to buy this newspaper a year or so before he died, but his purchase was blocked by Luthorcorp. 

“The fact that my wife is a former Daily Planet reporter or that her cousin is still employed by this newspaper has little bearing on our decision. 

“As for the so-called rumours that my brother is dating Miss Lane, let me lay that to rest now. At this moment in time, they are not a couple. Should the nature of their relationship change, that is up to them. Their personal lives are just that. Personal. And they will not be fodder for some tabloid rag to create problems where there are none.”

Oliver’s firm tone was a clear message to the rest of the reporters to drop the matter. Thankfully, they took heed and moved on to questions about the company’s purchase and Oliver’s plans for restructuring. Clark’s job would be to look into the paper’s budget and see where they could make improvements without it costing too much. 

By the time the reporters filed out, it was almost six. Clark joined his family in the limousine. 

“Well, that went better than expected,” Oliver said.

“I’m glad you shot down that weasel Donner,” Chloe said. “I got a call from one of my old friends at the Inquisitor. Apparently he was steaming mad over some photos that didn’t turn out.”

Clark bit his lip. “Uh, yeah, that was me,” he said. “He was pestering Lois and I might have, um, used my heat vision. Just a little.”

Oliver’s eyes widened. “You wrecked his camera?” He began to laugh. 

His mother stared at him. “Darling, that wasn’t very nice,” she scolded.

“Well, he wouldn’t leave her alone. He just kept taking photos of her, even when she asked him to stop.”

Chloe and Oliver exchanged a look. “What?” he asked.

“It’s not like you to do something so un-Superman-like,” Chloe pointed out. “Especially in defence of Lois.”

“Well, she didn’t deserve to be hounded by the paparazzi,” he said. 

“Yeah, right,” Chloe said with a snicker. “This from the guy who said she was stuck-up and rude? You know what Shakespeare said.”

He scowled at her. “I don’t like Lois that way.”

“Sure, and I’m a monkey’s uncle,” Oliver told him. “I think you’re in denial, bro.”

Clark glared at his brother. “I’m not in denial. And don’t call me bro.”

“Now don’t fight, darlings, please,” his mother said. “Clark, sweetheart, I think Chloe might be onto something. I’ve never known you to get this upset over a young woman before. I hate to say it, but I remember when you were dating Lana. The paparazzi were chasing you even then.”

“But we were dating!” he said, even knowing his argument was a little weak. 

It had started when Oliver had returned supposedly from the dead. The press had sniffed a good story and like predators they had pounced on it. It hadn’t helped that both he and his brother were considered extremely photogenic. He’d even been approached by a photographer once and asked to model a new fashion line for men. He’d done his research on the man and discovered he was a sleaze looking to take advantage of boys. Luckily Clark hadn’t been that naïve. 

Since then, every time they went to a red-carpet event, their photos would be in the society pages the next day. Before Oliver and Chloe had got married, every society column would have rumours of his brother dating the current ‘It Girl’. 

It had certainly made things more difficult for them both when they decided to become Green Arrow and Superman respectively. Then again, Oliver had become adept at avoiding the press. 

As much as he wanted to deny it, he knew his mother was right. There had been the odd occasion where Lana had been pestered because of their relationship, but he hadn’t been nearly as upset over it as he was over what had happened with Lois. Maybe part of it was the fact that they weren’t even dating, but he felt bad for her. She hadn’t deserved to be put in that situation, no matter how badly she had behaved when they were together, or afterward.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe and Oliver see the obvious, but Clark and Lois remain oblivious

“So, Lois looked kind of shocked,” Chloe commented as they entered the apartment. “Didn’t you tell her about the takeover?”

Clark handed her a glass of orange juice. “Perry told her about it, but I don’t think he told her about my job.”

Oliver looked at his brother. Until earlier that day, he hadn’t even been sure Clark would take the job. He knew the younger man had been reluctant but he was still the best man for the position. Whatever Lois’ reaction had been to this news, it didn’t matter. 

Mrs Adams came in and announced Lois had arrived. This would be interesting, he thought. 

Lois had obviously changed clothes as she was wearing a simple shift instead of the suit he’d seen her wearing. It was understated and wasn’t exactly flattering to her athletic figure but it was pretty all the same. She had earlier had her hair back in some kind of knot, but she now wore it down, the chocolate waves framing her oval face. 

She was an attractive woman, but had a different kind of energy to his wife. 

Clark greeted her. “Hello, Lois.”

“Hi,” she said, gazing at him almost shyly. Oliver was taken aback a little. It was so unlike the woman he thought he knew. 

His brother offered a glass of wine and guided her to the couch to sit next to her cousin. He stood beside them, talking to both of them, but Oliver noticed Clark couldn’t take his eyes off Lois.

It was the same during dinner. It was almost as if the rest of them weren’t there. The pair of them appeared to only have eyes for each other. 

As he prepared for bed that night, he looked at his wife’s reflection in the mirror. She was curled up in bed, scribbling on a notepad.

“I think you’re right about Lois and Clark.”

“So you saw it too.”

He put down his comb and turned, going to the bed and sliding between the sheets. 

“I think I would have to be blind not to have seen that. He couldn’t take his eyes off her all night.”

“I don’t think either of them even realised it,” Chloe said. “And if we pointed it out, they’d probably deny it.”

“So you think we should play it cool?”

“I think we should play it cool.”

Lois sat on a stool beside her dresser, brushing her long hair, thinking about the evening. The dinner at Clark’s apartment had not been the ordeal she had thought it would be. It had helped that Chloe was there, but Clark had been not only welcoming, but also friendly. So had his mother. 

She had misjudged him, she thought. The other night she had considered him obnoxious, but he had been charm itself tonight. Not that she was interested in dating him, she decided. She figured that she might as well at least get to know him. Especially now that Chloe was pregnant. Births had a way of drawing families together.

Of course, there was now the little matter of him being her boss at the paper. Technically speaking. Despite her efforts to find out more about Clark, she really didn’t know enough about him professionally to judge his suitability for the job. Then again, both Oliver and their mother seemed confident he could do it. 

She decided to take a wait and see approach. It wouldn’t be fair to judge him based on her limited knowledge. That had been her mistake the week earlier and look how that had turned out, she thought. 

Early the next morning she decided to go out jogging at Centennial Park. It was a cool day, a little unusual for August. She had just jogged down one side of the park, listening to music on her I-Pod when she noticed someone jogging alongside her. She turned her head to look and Clark grinned at her. 

“Hi,” he said. 

She took the earbuds out of her ears. “Hello. You’re out early.”

“So are you,” he said, shortening his stride so she could keep up with him. He had the longest legs of any guy she had ever been acquainted with. “Mom and Chloe and Oliver are sleeping in. They’re used to a different time-zone.”

“I wasn’t going to ask.”

He snickered. “You have that look on your face.”

“What look?”

“The one Chloe usually gets when she’s dying to ask a question.”

She laughed. “Yeah, she does that, doesn’t she? I guess it runs in the family.”

Despite his attempts to keep his strides in time with hers, Lois soon found herself breathless. She stopped jogging and bent at the waist, hoping to ease the cramping pain just below her ribcage.

“You should bend backwards, not forwards,” Clark advised. 

She looked up at him, shielding her eyes from the sun. “Sorry?”

“When you have a stitch, you need to stretch it out. Like this,” he said, arching his back. It looked funny with his bulky frame. Lois copied his movement and realised he was right. The cramp eased after a couple of minutes. 

“Do you want to get a coffee, or something?” he asked. 

“I should really finish my circuit,” she said. “And I try not to have coffee after I’ve been exercising. Makes it kind of pointless, you know?”

“Yeah. Of course.” He looked thoughtful as they began walking together, then his eyes widened as if a lightbulb had suddenly switched on over his head. “I know this great juice bar. Best fresh juice in town.”

She bit her lip. “I don’t know. I mean, what if that guy from the Inquisitor sees us together?”

“Paparazzi. Yeah, I can see how that would complicate things.” He leaned toward her. “I’m not asking you to date me, Lois, just have a juice with me. If we’re going to be working together at the Planet, then don’t you think we should get to know each other?”

“Well, technically, you’ll be my boss.”

They were quiet for a few moments as they walked, nearing the south-east corner of the park. A woman jogging along the path eyed Clark as she passed, shooting daggers at Lois. 

She could tell he was debating whether to say something and waited for it.

“Are you always this closed-off?” he blurted.

She frowned at him. “Excuse me?”

“Well, like the other night, you were hostile to me the moment you walked in.”

Well, so were you, she was going to say, but before she could do so, he raised his hand.

“I know. I didn’t exactly do myself any favours that night either. It’s just, it’s like you’ve got these walls around you. It’s almost like breaking into, I don’t know, Fort Knox. Not that I ever would. Break in, I mean.”

She stared at him. “Do you know you babble?”

He laughed. “Pot? Kettle calling on line one.”

“I do not,” she said.

“Do too.”

“I do not,” she repeated.

“Yes, you do. The afternoon you came over to my apartment with that fruit basket, you muttered: ‘Stop babbling like an idiot’.”

She felt herself growing hot. “You heard that?”

“I have very good hearing.”

She wanted to berate him, but the stupidest thought popped into her head. If the Paparazzi suddenly popped out and began photographing them arguing like this, it would be a ridiculous photo and not worth their time. A giggle escaped. Clark looked at her like she was nuts, then snickered. Suddenly they were standing in the middle of the path, giggling like a couple of teenagers. 

She looked at Clark but he was too busy laughing to return the look. A couple walking along sent them odd looks as they went by, their expressions suggesting they thought the pair of them were crazy. 

“Oh, oh!” she moaned. “Oh god, my side!” 

Clark grasped her arm and guided her off the path. “Come on, before somebody calls out the men in the white coats.”

She giggled again, the giggle coming out as a snort. Clark cocked an eyebrow as he stared at her but just shook his head. She started to follow him but then remembered she’d driven to the park.

“My car’s parked over on 5th Street,” she said.

“It’ll be fine. The place I want to take you is just a couple of blocks from here.”

She frowned, unable to think of the name of a juice bar so close to Centennial Park. Considering she spent almost all her time in the city centre. 

She realised he wasn’t talking about an actual bar when he led her to the clock tower building. She didn’t comment as the lift took them all the way up to the penthouse. 

The apartment was quiet. The rest of the family was clearly not up yet. 

“I guess they’re still sleeping in,” Clark said.

She leaned on the counter, watching as he gathered fruit. “Best juice bar in town, huh?”

“No, I said the best fresh juice in town.”

“Meh, semantics,” she said, laughing as he began juggling five oranges in the air. “So, you juggle too? What else can you do?”

“Oh, here we go,” Oliver said as he ambled into the kitchen. “He’s showing off,” he said to his wife. 

Chloe sat down next to Lois, giving her a kiss on the cheek. “Morning, Lo,” she said.

Lois smiled brightly at her cousin. “Morning. Clark was just going to make us some juice.”

“Ooh, that sounds good. Ollie was just going to make pancakes. I’m starving! I tell you, I’m so glad the morning sickness has finally let up. Even the smell of coffee was making me nauseous. And I love coffee!”

“We know,” Clark said with a put-upon sigh which could be heard even over the motor of the juicer. “You practically mainline the stuff.”

Chloe wrinkled her nose at her brother-in-law. “Do not.”

“Actually, dear, you do,” Oliver replied. He got an apple thrown at him for his trouble. He bit into it and smirked at his wife.

Moira came in, wearing satin pyjamas with a kimono robe.

“Morning darlings,” she said. 

“Morning Mom,” three voices chorused. Lois smiled at the older woman.

“Good morning Mrs Queen.”

The Queen family matriarch waved her hand. “How many times do I have to ask you to call me Moira, sweetie?”

“Oh, only about a dozen more,” Lois replied, laughing as the other woman aimed a swat at her. 

Clark put a glass of juice down in front of Lois. “Give that a try,” he said.

“What’s in it?” she asked, not having paid attention to what he’d actually put in it.

“Orange, pineapple, mango, little bit of lemon, lime, carrot and a dash of kiwi.”

She tasted it, delighting at the sweetness. The flavours had mixed so none overpowered the other. 

“Wow, that’s good.”

“Oliver makes these smoothies with wheatgrass in them. Turns the whole thing green. I almost threw up the first time I saw one of his concoctions.”

“Well, you hate anything green,” his brother replied, mixing the batter for pancakes.

Clark shot Oliver a withering look. “I was a kid. And it was just peas.”

Lois stared at the two brothers. “What’s this?”

Moira laughed. “The first time Clark tried to eat peas, he spat them out. He hasn’t touched them since.” She looked at her younger son. “Your face really was a picture, my darling.”

Clark rolled his eyes. “Yeah, thanks, Mom. Tell Lois all my deep, dark secrets.”

“Oh, heaven forbid.” She turned to Lois. “Tell me about your family,” she said.

Lois shook her head. “There’s really not that much to tell. My mom died when I was six. Cancer. My dad and I aren’t that close. I haven’t seen him in maybe about two years.”

“Why not?” Clark asked. “That’s pretty sad.”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. He doesn’t like my job, for one. He thinks my time would be better served doing something other than muckraking. My sister, Lucy, works for a fashion designer in Coast City, but we don’t talk much either. Chloe is closer to me than Lucy is,” she added, giving her cousin a quick squeeze. 

The conversation turned to other things. As Chloe, Oliver and Clark began discussing something, Lois wandered over to the terrace to look out over the city. Moira joined her. 

“Are you all right, sweetie?”

She looked at Chloe’s mother-in-law. “I’m fine,” she said. She glanced back at the siblings. “I sort of envy them.”

“They’ve always been close. The day we adopted Clark, Oliver assigned himself his brother’s protector and it’s been that way ever since.” She smiled fondly at her two sons. “When Oliver disappeared, I had a terrible time with Clark.”

“Chloe said he sort of went off the rails a bit?”

Moira nodded. “He missed his brother terribly. For a while there, I thought I would lose him too. He was just so angry all the time. I slowly realised that he somehow blamed himself for what had happened to Oliver. And his father.”

Lois frowned. “How? I mean, how was he supposed to know what would happen? It’s not like he can predict the future.”

“I know. I eventually took him to see a therapist who helped him come to terms with that. When Oliver turned up alive, it was as if Clark got his life back too.”

Lois bit her lip. Moira seemed so sad. She was clearly still grieving for her husband.

“I’m so sorry,” she said.

The older woman hugged her. “It’s all right. The pain lessens but you never really forget.” She looked her over. “I wanted to ask you how you were feeling after yesterday’s news.”

“I’m okay. I mean, Perry told me about the purchase a few days ago. I’m not sure how it’s going to affect things with Clark being my boss, but I don’t know enough about him to make any kind of judgment.” She paused. “Um, about the other day. I guess they told you about it.”

“I can understand how upset you were. That man from the Inquisitor certainly has a lot to answer for.”

“I’m really sorry that I …” She ducked her head. “I behaved so badly.”

“Sweetie, it’s all right. I know you were angry and frankly, I don’t blame you for that. You just need to put it behind you. That’s why I left it up to Clark to smooth things over with you. I try not to be too overbearing with my sons. They’re old enough to handle their own affairs. It doesn’t stop me giving them advice, even if they tell me to butt out,” she said, making a face. 

Lois laughed. The older woman went on.

“You do need to understand that dealing with people like Mr Donner is something that comes with the territory. When Oliver turned up alive, well, I’m afraid the media smelled a good story and you could say we haven’t had a moment’s peace since then. If you and Clark did decide to date …”

“Oh, we’re not. I mean, I just … I was out running when we ran into each other. I mean, not literally. He just came up beside me, and I … Oh god, sorry. I babble. It’s a flaw.”

Moira laughed. “Hardly a flaw, darling. I think if anyone can help Clark get over his problems with women, it’s you.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” she said. He had problems with women? She stored that little tidbit away for future reference.

Oliver came over to interrupt them. “Breakfast is up,” he said. 

She followed Moira and Oliver to the table. There was not only a huge pile of steaming hot pancakes but crispy bacon, scrambled eggs, toast and hashbrowns. Her stomach rumbled noisily. Clark grinned at her, making her wonder if he’d actually heard it.

“Dig in,” he said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I normally like to portray Lois' father as someone who realises the mistakes he's made and does his best to make up for it. Sorry, not this time.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark considers the problem of Lois and her escapades

Clark looked through his emails and sighed. He’d been in the job two months and it was already proving problematic. The transition had been easy, for the most part. Queen Industries’ reputation as a fair and equal opportunity employer as well as a company that held its people to high ethical standards meant that the staff hadn’t given him too much trouble during the changeover.

Of course, that didn’t count Lois. She might be the best investigative journalist on staff, but she was also a pain in the rear for the legal firm permanently on retainer. He’d just recently had to head off a potential contempt of court charge. She’d refused to give up her source over an article concerning shortcuts taken on a company’s construction. 

He’d had to rescue her as Superman yet again when the company’s owner had come after her. At times it felt like keeping Lois out of trouble was a full-time job.

He had to admire her, however. She wasn’t afraid to take risks and put her own reputation on the line when she believed she was in the right. 

Her latest escapade had involved someone named John Corben. The man had been a foreign correspondent for the Metropolis Journal and had been working in war-torn areas in Afghanistan. A few months earlier, his sister had been murdered. 

Clark had been horrified to discover that the killer had been a man who had escaped from a prison bus. It had crashed into a ditch when the driver had swerved to avoid a collision on the highway. Two prisoners had been killed. He’d gone to the scene as Superman, helping the authorities to clear the accident. The prisoner had escaped in the confusion.

None of it had been his fault, his brother had told him, but that still didn’t help. It hadn’t changed Corben’s opinion of him either. Lois had met the man at a function at the Press Club and, as she’d reported to Clark later, had been forced to listen to the man’s invective against Superman. 

He still had no idea how it had happened, but Corben had been in an accident. A scientist, who had been fired after working for Luthorcorp, or rather LexCorp for several years, had found the critically injured man and experimented on him, giving him an artificial heart using green Kryptonite. 

Clark had been called in by Emil Hamilton, a doctor at Met Gen who helped the Justice League from time to time. Corben had somehow turned up at the hospital but he’d run off again. Worried the man might do something stupid, Clark had tried his friends in the League but they were all busy. He’d reluctantly reached out to Lois, hoping she might be able to help him find Corben, using her contacts in the field. 

Only, of course, she had managed to get herself hurt in the process. The other reporter had somehow figured out she was helping Superman and kidnapped her, holding her hostage in an attempt to get revenge.

Clark leaned back in his chair, sighing softly. It was no good telling Lois not to do something. She’d still go out and do it anyway. 

The double doors to his office opened and the very subject of his thoughts entered. She stood in the doorway, a bandage on her forehead. She’d spent the night in the hospital with a concussion.

“Shouldn’t you be at home resting?” he enquired.

She huffed. “Why would I do that when I have a story to write?”

“Lois, you could have been killed yesterday.”

“But I wasn’t. Superman saved me.”

He shook his head. “You have a bad habit of getting into dangerous situations, lady.”

“Yeah, but I always get the best stories. Admit it. I sell papers.”

“No, the news stands sell papers.”

She shot a glare at him. “Oh, you think you’re so funny!”

He smirked at her. “I know I am. I’m also charming, handsome …”

“Egotistical!”

“You wish!”

She laughed and flopped down on the leather couch. “So how was your date last night?”

He frowned. “Oh, with Linda. It was … okay.”

“Just okay?” she asked. 

“She’s nice. And, you know, sweet.”

“Why do I hear a but?” she said.

He’d told Lois he was going to be in Star City for a couple of days. It hadn’t been a total lie. He’d flitted in and out, hoping Oliver and Chloe’s resources could lead him to Corben so he could put the man away before he did some serious damage. 

For the past two months, Lois had been encouraging him to go out on dates. He had no idea what his mother had talked to her about the Saturday morning they’d had breakfast, but it appeared Lois had decided it was her mission to find him a girlfriend. When she’d heard about Linda asking him out for coffee, she’d encouraged him to take it to another level.

He’d taken Oliver’s assistant out for dinner the night before, but while the woman had been great company, there had been no spark. She was a great assistant. Intelligent, friendly, very efficient at her job, but there had still been something missing. That certain quality that made him feel happy to be alive. 

There was really only one person who did that for him. Someone he was beginning to see differently. Sure, they’d had a rocky start, but that had changed as they’d slowly got to know each other. 

“I don’t know,” he said. “I mean we had a good time. I just didn’t feel …”

She nodded. “Yeah, I get that. I went out with this guy a few months ago. He was a lawyer. I mean, he wasn’t one of those corporate types who, you know, cared more about making money. He was one of those humanitarian lawyers. I mean, he once worked for Amnesty International. He was nice, and funny, but we just …”

“Didn’t click.”

“Exactly.”

He sighed heavily. “I don’t know. I don’t get this dating thing. I mean, there’s so much pressure, you know? You go out on a date with someone and …”

“And you don’t even know if they’re actually being themselves, or if it’s just an act.”

“Exactly.” He leaned on his desk. “You know what’s worse? It’s being, well, maybe famous isn’t the word. But people know who I am and they act accordingly.”

“So you never know if they’re actually there because they genuinely like you, or because you’re a Queen.” She scowled. “I hate that.” 

“Maybe I should just give up on dating altogether. Maybe some people are meant to be alone.”

She shook her head. “No, don’t say that. I mean, you’re a great guy. And any woman would have to be nuts if she didn’t recognise that.”

He grinned at her. “You always seem to know just what to say to make me feel better.”

“It’s a gift,” she said with a shrug. She stood up. “Anyway, I should go write up my story on Corben.”

He nodded. “Try not to get into any dangerous situations while you’re gone.”

She rolled her eyes. “Ha ha. You’ll keep.”

He watched her go and sat back, the smile fading from his face. Why couldn’t she see him the same way he saw her? Was he really going to be satisfied with just friendship?

A couple of days later, he received an invitation to a ball being held at Lex Luthor’s mansion in Smallville. It was themed. Every guest had to turn up in costume. 

The last thing Clark wanted to do was go to a ball. Especially when it was hosted by a man he detested. Lex had never been particularly friendly toward him but he was great at kissing ass when he wanted something. Since the ball was supposedly a fundraiser, he knew the bald billionaire was wanting Queen family money. 

He wasn’t surprised to hear that Jonathan and Martha Kent had also been sent invitations. Their son was in his last year at Met U and was being courted by the Metropolis Sharks, the football team owned by LexCorp. Although Jack Kent was adopted, he had proved just as talented as his father in the game. Jonathan had had to turn down a football scholarship to the university when he was younger, but he’d once confided in Moira that there was no way in hell he would let his son do the same thing. Clark had heard that Jack, who had opted to continue his education and get a Masters degree in agri-science, wasn't interested in playing pro football.

Of course, Lex would be the type of man to surround himself with people who might possibly have some influence in their community, all so he could paint himself as a humanitarian.

Clark had no idea what to wear to the ball. As much as being Superman gave him a certain sense of anonymity, he still hated wearing the costume. 

“Why don’t you go as Robin Hood?” Oliver suggested when he called his brother via the vidlink in Watchtower. Technically he wasn’t supposed to be using Justice League resources for personal calls, but he didn’t care.

“That’s more your deal, not mine.”

Oliver looked thoughtful, but didn't immediately come up with an alternative.

“Okay, well, why don’t you go rent a tux and just say you’re James Bond?” Chloe suggested. She’d come in in the middle of the conversation. 

“James Bond does not wear glasses.”

She grinned. “How do you know? He could just not wear them out of vanity.”

He sighed. “Yeah, this is real helpful guys.”

Oliver brightened. “I got it. I know exactly what you should go as.” He quickly outlined his idea. Clark grinned at his brother. It was a great costume. He wouldn’t even have to go out and rent anything. “By the way, I hear Lois is going.”

“What does that have to do with anything? She’s probably going to cover the story for the DP.”

“Why don’t you just ask the woman out already?”

“We’re just friends, Oliver,” he said. “Besides, I don’t think she’d be too thrilled at being stalked by the Paparazzi. Again.”

“Fine. I’m just saying, Clark. I mean, you go out on these dates, yet you see more of Lois than you do potential girlfriends. That’s gotta be telling you something.”

“We’re just friends,” he repeated. 

His brother raised his hands. “Fine. Tell me to butt out and I’ll butt out.” He gazed at the older man for a few moments. “Right. Butting out.”

The evening of the party, Clark drove his SUV to Smallville. While he could have driven his Lamborghini, he preferred not to show off when he was in the town. The valet assigned to park his vehicle on the grounds of the Luthor mansion just took the keys without comment. 

He was greeted almost cordially by his host, who had dressed up in what Clark assumed was supposed to be Alexander the Great. He knew Lex idolised the Macedonian king.

“Clark,” Lex said, shaking his hand. “Great to see you.” He turned to the woman standing beside him. She was wearing a costume he assumed was supposed to be Cleopatra. Clark was stunned to recognise her. “You know Lana Lang.”

“Hello Clark,” Lana said quietly. “It’s been a while. I heard you took over the Daily Planet.”

He nodded stiffly. “Yes, we did. You’re looking, uh, well, Lana.”

“Can’t complain,” she said. 

Already bored with the awkward conversation, Lex drew her away to greet more guests, leaving Clark standing in the middle of the room, still in shock at seeing the woman who had broken his heart as a teenager. To her credit, she had appeared just as shocked. They hadn’t spoken in years. He’d always been careful to avoid the coffee shop she’d somehow convinced Lex to refurbish from the old rundown movie theatre.

He grabbed a glass of champagne from a passing waiter and drank about half of it.

“That looked painful.”

He looked around and stared at the attractive redhead. “I’m sorry?”

“I couldn’t help but catch the end of that little exchange. Old girlfriend?”

“Something like that,” he said. 

The redhead was very attractive. She was wearing a strapless silk dress in lavender.

“I thought this was supposed to be a costume ball,” he said.

She looked down. “This is my costume,” she told him with a grin. “I’m a femme fatale.” She looked him over. “What is your costume supposed to be?”

He grinned at her. He’d worn a black suit and Ray Ban sunglasses. 

“I’m a Man in Black,” he said. She smiled.

“Yes, you are.”

“No, I mean, from the movie.” He smiled sheepishly. “It was my brother’s bright idea.”

“I know the movie,” she said. “I love Will Smith.” A waiter passed by her and she asked for a glass of champagne. “Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Tess Mercer.”

“Clark Queen.”

“So you’re Oliver’s little brother,” she said. 

He frowned at her. “You’ve met Oliver?”

“I dated him for a couple of months. It didn’t work out. I hear he’s married now.”

He nodded, sipping his drink. His brother had never mentioned Tess. Then again, they never really talked about old girlfriends. He figured he must have been away from home when they were dating, either at Excelsior Prep or away on summer vacation. He’d spent at least part of one summer in Europe with friends.

“So, um, Tess, what do you do?”

“Oh, I’m an executive VP for LexCorp. And you’re the publisher of the Daily Planet?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Well, it’s good to meet you, Clark,” she said. Her blue eyes sparkled as she gazed at him, one well-manicured hand stroking up and down his arm. The message was clear. She was interested. Very interested.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a time jump in this one, just to move things along a little.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois gets jealous

Lois sometimes wore different costumes when she was out chasing a story, but she didn’t really like costume parties as a whole. She had debated whether to skip the costume altogether when she’d been preparing for this shindig, but figured she should at least try to blend in. She had found a costume that looked very similar to that of Wonder Woman’s. 

The leather chafed and she was sweating beneath the fake armour, despite the cool October evening, but it wasn’t the costume that was bothering her at that moment. It was Clark talking to an attractive woman in a lavender dress. She scowled as she watched the two of them exchanging flirtatious looks. The woman leaned into Clark, arching her back to reveal far too much cleavage for Lois’ liking. 

She’d tried to pretend she was happy that Clark seemed to be getting along swimmingly with the woman. The truth was, lately she’d been having dreams about the man who was slowly becoming someone she cared about deeply. Sure, they bickered more often than not, and there were times when the man drove her crazy, but he was probably the only man she felt she could talk to about anything.

“You’re jealous,” she told herself as Clark laughed at something the woman said. It was almost like a knife to her gut. 

“Stop it,” she murmured. 

God, get a grip, she thought. Clark was not her personal property.

It had all started out innocently enough. After the Saturday morning she’d spent with his family, and Chloe, she’d been spending a lot of time with him. At first it had just been meeting in the park to go running. Then he’d started working at the Planet and she’d bump into him on her way to Perry’s office. Within a couple of weeks, she was sharing coffees with him, bouncing ideas for stories off him. Then it was shared lunches. 

Somehow they’d become friends, meeting to chat in either her office or his. It had turned into more than just a working relationship, where he worried about her chasing leads.

She watched Clark for a moment, looking so friendly with the redhead. She turned to go in search of champagne, only to bump into someone. A tall man with dark blond hair and the most amazing blue eyes she had ever seen.

“Oh god, sorry,” she said.

He grinned at her. “It’s all right. No harm done.” He held up his glass. “Didn’t even spill a drop.”

“Lucky me, then,” she said, smiling at him. He was good-looking. Nowhere near as good-looking as Clark, but attractive just the same. “Um, I’m Lois,” she added, holding out her hand. “Lois Lane.”

He swapped his glass to his left hand and shook her hand. His hand was bigger than hers, although still not quite as big as Clark’s.

“I’m Jack Kent. Well, actually, it’s Jon Junior, but I’ve been called Jack for as long as I can remember. You’re a reporter at the Daily Planet, aren’t you?”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

Jack turned to look at Clark, who was still talking with the redhead. An older couple had joined them. 

“So, how is it with the new leadership at the Planet?”

“It’s good, actually. I mean, Clark rags on me sometimes about getting into trouble, but I never take it seriously. He’s a good boss. I mean, you can tell he really cares about the paper. And everyone likes him.”

Jack nodded. “Yeah, he’s a great guy. I’ve known him since we were kids.” He gestured toward the older couple. “That’s my Mom and Dad.”

She frowned at him. “You know the Queens?”

“Yep. My parents and Clark’s parents are good friends. Mr Queen helped my dad with some business contacts and our farm is doing pretty well. Clark and Ollie used to spend just about every summer in Smallville. We, I mean, my sister Jess and I, we thought we were so cool because they hung out with us. They’re really good guys.”

“Hey, Jack. How’s college?” Clark asked, walking up to them.

“Ugh, don’t even go there, man,” Jack said, shaking Clark’s hand. “My professors are all giving me a hard time.”

“Well, you were the one who decided to go for your Masters degree,” an older blond man said, laughing. 

“Yeah, I know, Dad. Glutton for punishment. Mom, Dad, this is Lois Lane. Lois, this is my mom and dad, Martha and Jonathan.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Lois,” Martha said. “Clark has told us all about you.”

Clark introduced the redheaded woman. “This is Tess Mercer,” he said. “She’s a VP with LexCorp.”

Lois studied the other woman. She appeared to be a little older than Clark. Not that that mattered, she supposed. She turned to a waiter and asked for a glass of champagne. 

An hour later and three more glasses of champagne, she had managed to drink enough that nothing bothered her. Clark leaned over her, making it clear he’d been keeping an eye on her. 

“You might want to slow it down, don’t you think? Aren’t you supposed to be covering this for the Planet?”

“Clark, I’ve drunk with Navy Seals and Green Berets, and those guys are hard drinkers. I can drink you under the table.”

“I doubt that,” he murmured. He caught her arm as she swayed. “I think you need to stop before you embarrass yourself.”

“You telling me what to do?” she accused. He glared at her. 

“Don’t make me do this, Lois. As your boss, I have every right to order you to stop. As your friend, I am asking you to do it, before you put your foot in your mouth and say something stupid. I haven’t forgotten what happened when Donner printed that ridiculous story about us.”

She scowled at him. “I knew you were still mad about that!”

He pulled her aside. “No, I am not angry about that. I’m just reminding you that you need to think before you act. Your actions have consequences, Lois. And if you drink yourself into oblivion, you’ll find out that a hangover will only be the beginning of your problems.”

She had a feeling he was speaking from experience. She remembered something Chloe had told her the night before the press conference. Something about Clark getting into trouble as a teenager. Still, she didn’t like the implication.

“Are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?”

“It is not a good look for the Planet to have the reporter covering this thing get passed-out drunk,” he said. “If you keep this up, I’ll have no choice but to suspend you.”

She found herself feeling suddenly dizzy as he let her go and walked away. She blinked back tears, realising he was not just upset, but he was worried about her. 

She left the ballroom to look for the bathroom, unsurprised to find herself in a room that was almost as big as her living room. A dark-haired woman stood beside the vanity, using a tissue to dab around her eyes. 

“Don’t you hate it when mascara runs?” she asked with a laugh.

Lois leaned on the counter, trying to hold back the tears. 

“Are you all right?” the woman asked.

“I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine. Maybe you should sit down.”

She shook her head. “I’ll be okay. I just need to wash my face, or something.”

“All right, but I can always ask Lex if you can lie down in one of the guest rooms if you need it.”

“You know Lex?”

“We’re sort of … dating,” the woman said. “I’m Lana. Lana Lang.”

“Lois Lane.”

“Oh, you’re the reporter. You must know Clark Queen then.”

She nodded. “Yeah, he’s kind of … well, not kind of. He’s my boss.”

“I used to go out with him. Years ago.” She gave a tinkling sort of laugh. “Poor man. He used to be so infatuated with me. Of course, I only went out with him because my aunt thought it would help … well, you don’t need to know the details.” She checked her reflection and turned to walk away. “Feel better, okay?”

Lois watched her go with a frown. The way the woman had talked, it was as if she had felt sorry for Clark. Yet it seemed as if the whole thing amused her. Now she was dating Lex Luthor. 

She washed her face, still feeling bothered by the brief conversation. 

It was the early hours of the morning when she got home. She had switched from champagne to water the rest of the night, hoping it would help her sober up enough to drive. 

After a few hours of tossing and turning, she decided her need to know was more important than sleep and dialled a familiar number. 

“Lois, hello. How was the ball?”

“It was all right. Um, I needed to ask you something. I met someone Clark used to know. A woman named Lana Lang?”

Moira made a ‘tch’ sound. “Ooh, that woman! You know, she used to be such a nice girl. Oliver and I thought she was being manipulated by that back-stabbing social climber of an aunt of hers, but …”

Lois was surprised at the amount of venom in the older woman’s voice. She guessed that mother bear was very protective of her cubs and woe betide anyone who hurt them. She was suddenly very glad that Moira had been so forgiving over the whole Paparazzi incident.

“What happened?”

“She broke Clark’s heart. I honestly thought he would never recover, my poor baby!” She went on to explain that a few years ago she had bumped into Nell Potter at a social event and overheard Lana’s aunt deriding Clark, saying the only reason she had pushed her niece into dating him was because of the family money. 

“Is that why he’s so shy around women?”

“Hmm, I think so. Why are you asking, sweetie?”

“Because she’s dating Lex Luthor!”

“Oh dear! Well, I try never to speak ill of anyone, but that man is nothing but a conniving villain!”

“I know,” she agreed. It was the reason she had asked for the assignment to cover the ball. She had wanted to see what she could learn about Lex. Only she had blown it by getting drunk. If she hadn’t been so upset over what she had seen between Clark and Tess Mercer, she wouldn’t have done it.

She had to face facts. She was jealous. She wanted Clark to look at her the way Ollie looked at Chloe. Like she was the centre of his universe.

As she walked into work the following Monday, she wondered what sort of mood Clark would be in. Normally, he didn’t come to editorial meetings, but after her behaviour that weekend, she wouldn’t have been surprised to see him there, ready to chew her out for what she’d done. 

She went to the early morning meeting as normal but he didn’t turn up. In fact, she didn’t see him at all until later that day.

Superman had been busy too. She had subscribed to a news channel online and learned that the superhero had been helping fight fires in California. Thousands of homes in the hills near Santa Barbara had been saved due to his immediate action. 

She couldn’t help cheering quietly for the Man of Steel. He didn’t have to be out there. He could have chosen to do anything with his abilities and he’d decided to help humanity. 

As she read some of the comments below the story, she felt angry on his behalf. Some people had suggested Superman was only doing it for publicity. Others had gone as far as to imply that he was lulling them into a false sense of security before he decided he’d conned them enough. 

She was still scrolling through the comments when she heard a knock on her door. She looked up and smiled at Clark, nodding for him to enter.

“Have you seen this? What kind of people would say such horrible things about Superman?”

She frowned as he didn’t answer, flopping down on the couch opposite her desk. He looked exhausted.

“Are you okay?” she asked. “You don’t look so good.”

“Long day,” he said wearily. “Listen, I wanted to talk to you about Saturday. I’m sorry if what I said upset you.”

“No,” she said. “You have no reason to be sorry. I was acting like an idiot. You were right. I was there representing the Planet, not to have a good time. I’m sorry.”

He smiled, although the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. To her it was a clear indication of just how tired he was.

She got up from her desk and went to him, sitting next to him on the couch and massaging his shoulders.

“You’re so tight!” she commented. 

“Yeah. I didn’t get much sleep last night.”

“Were you worrying about something?” she asked. 

“Yes. No. I don’t know.”

“Which is it?” she asked with a laugh. “You know, you need to learn to relax. Maybe you should take the rest of the day off. Go home and do something fun.”

“I can’t,” he replied. “I have a date tonight.”

She stopped rubbing and stared at him. “A date?”

“Yeah. Tess Mercer. We really seemed to hit it off on Saturday, so I asked her out to dinner.”

She bit down hard on her lower lip.

“That’s … great,” she forced out, all the while thinking ‘Die! Die!’

He got up from the couch. “I should get going. I still have some paperwork to finish before I leave for the day. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t mad at me about the other night.”

She shook her head. “I could never be mad at you, Clark,” she said with what she felt was a too bright smile. 

“Okay. Great. You know I wouldn’t want to do anything to wreck our friendship.”

“Me either,” she agreed. She rose and touched his hand, standing on tiptoes to kiss his cheek. As she did so she caught a whiff of some kind of odour. It smelled a lot like smoke. It was odd. What could Clark have been doing all day to have that on his clothes?


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark has his date with Tess

Clark greeted Tess with a smile. She was wearing a gold silk blouse with a green skirt which looked very attractive with her red hair.

“Sorry I’m late,” he said. “Paperwork waits for no man. Even if he is the boss.”

She shook her head and smiled. “It’s all right. I’ve only been here a few minutes.”

He nodded. After he’d finished his paperwork for the day, he’d had to zip home and shower, realising his Superman uniform smelled of smoke. He just hoped Lois hadn’t smelled it when he’d been in her office earlier. It would just lead to questions that he wasn’t prepared to answer. 

The restaurant he’d chosen was fairly upmarket. The menu was expensive, but he doubted Tess would be comfortable in a lower quality establishment. The tables were always booked up months in advance, although they kept private rooms for the special customers. 

Tess looked around. “This is charming,” she said, gazing at the subtly dimmed lighting and the lavish décor. Each table was draped in fine, white linen. The restaurant staff were expected to treat the guests with respect, but the reverse was the same. Clark had heard stories from a few of his friends at Excelsior whose parents had acted like they were above the waiters and waitresses. The restaurant was family-owned and the owners didn’t tolerate abuse of their staff.

Clark had been to the restaurant a couple of times since Queen Industries had bought the Daily Planet. He’d taken some corporate bigwigs to lunch, hoping to persuade them to increase their advertising budgets. 

The host greeted them with a smile, bowing stiffly.

“Mr Queen, it’s good to see you again, sir. If you and your guest would like to follow me, I will take you to your table.”

“Thank you, Stephen,” Clark said. He allowed Tess to link her arm in his and followed the host. They were taken to a table in one of the private rooms. 

“I hope this is to your liking,” Stephen murmured. 

“It is. Thank you.”

“Your waitress will be right with you,” the younger man said with another bow. He turned on his heel and left.

Tess looked suitably impressed. “You seem to be very well-known here,” she said. 

“It’s the price I pay for being a member of a famous family. Well, not famous, exactly. Oliver’s disappearance and return-from-the-dead nearly three years later did attract a lot of attention.”

The redhead nodded. “Of course it helps that you and your brother are both very good-looking men.”

He dropped his gaze. It wasn’t that he was insecure about his looks. He just never really thought too much about them. 

The waitress approached their table. “Would you like to see the wine list?” she asked, giving him a smile in recognition. 

“Yes, please, Trisha.” She gave them both menus and poured water for them. Clark quickly perused the wine list and chose a Sauvignon. She was back within a minute or two with the wine.

He turned back to Tess. “You know, when Oliver and I were kids, our parents took us to a restaurant just like this. We both acted like little brats. Our dad told us if we didn’t learn to behave, we would not only not get our meals that night but we would also be grounded for the next month. And we would have to do chores at our uncle’s farm. Sometimes I think Oliver was more worried about that than our dad’s punishment.”

“This is the man I met the other night?” Tess asked.

He nodded. “Yeah. Uncle Jonathan. Well, he’s not really my uncle, but it feels like he and Martha are family anyway.”

“Was he strict?”

“No. Not really. But he had this way of looking at you that would make you slink away with your tail between your legs.”

She laughed. “He sounds great.”

Clark sipped the wine. “He is. He was really there for me when Ollie and my dad disappeared. I don’t think I would have got through it if it hadn’t been for him.” He smiled at her. “So what about your parents?”

She looked down at the table. “Uh, I don’t really want to talk about them.”

“That bad?”

“No, well … I was adopted too. Only they never told me. I found out who my birth parents were a year ago. It turned out my biological father sent me to an orphanage when I was five.”

Clark stared at her. It sounded like her birth father had just abandoned her. What kind of parent would abandon their child? 

“I have a half-brother,” she said. “Two, actually. We don’t have much to do with each other.”

Why did he get the impression that was not strictly true? 

They began to talk about other things. Tess appeared to skirt around some personal information, choosing subjects which seemed innocuous. He learned she loved to read and had studied marine biology at Harvard University.

Clark had also been accepted for Harvard as well as a few other Ivy League colleges but had chosen to go to Met U so he could help out on the farm in Smallville. Jonathan had been adamant he should not use his abilities without good reason.

He was careful not to question her too much about LexCorp and what she knew about Lex. The fact that she was in a fairly high executive position within the company made the prospect of dating her a little risky. If she were to learn who he really was, depending on her loyalty to Lex, she could possibly go to the CEO and tell him. 

He liked her. She was smart, pretty, but he got the feeling she could be just as deceptive as her boss could be. He knew he would have to be on his guard.

On the other hand, her knowledge about LexCorp could help him learn a few things about Lex’s activities and he might be able to anticipate any problems Superman would need to handle. 

The next day at work, he shared a coffee as usual with Lois. Or rather, reluctantly allowed her to drink his coffee. Being publisher had its privileges and he had had a coffee machine installed in his office suite. Only a select few of his staff were allowed to use it. Perry was one of them. 

Lois, however, seemed to take it for granted that their friendship meant she could ignore certain boundaries. As much as he liked the reporter, she needed to realise that she was still an employee of the Planet and their friendship didn’t change that.

He showed mild irritation as she helped herself to a cappuccino.

“Ever hear of boundaries, Lane?” he asked. 

“Ever hear of locks, Queen?” she retorted. 

He sighed and shook his head. “You really test my patience, sometimes.”

“Oh, you love me. Besides, I need this. There is no way in hell I’m going to drink the sludge that passes for coffee in the bullpen.”

He snickered. “You know, you and Chloe don’t look a lot alike but you both love your coffee.”

She sipped from the cup and sat down on the couch with a contented sigh. She had a milky moustache. He stroked his upper lip with a grin.

“You’ve got foam on your lip,” he said. 

She hastily rubbed at it with her free hand.

“So, how was the date last night?”’

“It was fine.”

“Just fine?”

“What do you want me to say? She’s a pleasant conversationalist.”

She rolled her eyes. “There has to be more to it than ‘pleasant conversation’. I mean, she works for LexCorp. Did she spill any secrets?”

“No!” he said with a scowl. “It was a date, not the Spanish Inquisition!” 

“Gee, sorry I asked. I was just curious, that’s all. I mean, sometimes you can be so uptight. You need to learn how to relax and have fun.”

He knew it wasn’t meant to be an insult, since Lois wasn’t the kind of person to beat around the bush. She was at least honest, even if the things she said could have been a little more tactful. Yet it bothered him that she’d called him uptight. Enough to bite back with a scowl on his face.

“I know how to have fun. Besides, I don’t remember asking for dating advice from someone who hasn’t had a date in … what? Three months?”

She glowered at him. “Just because I don’t date doesn’t mean I don’t know how to have fun!”

“Right,” he said. “So tell me, Lois, is getting drunk on four glasses of champagne in an hour your idea of fun?”

“I said I was sorry about that!” she said. “Don’t be an asshole!”

“I’m the asshole? You walk in here like you own the damn place and I’m the asshole for calling you on it. I expect you to act like the professional you’re supposed to be when you’re covering an event and you get drunk! Am I supposed to let it slide?”

She stared at him. “Why are you being a jerk all of a sudden?”

He stared back at her. He didn’t really know himself. Part of him had felt a little guilty for going out on a date with Tess when the only reason he’d asked her out in the first place was because he was too much of a coward to ask Lois out! God, he was a jerk. 

“You know what? I didn’t come here to be insulted!” she told him after minutes of silence between them. 

Their friendship had always been a slippery slope. It was almost like every time they took a step forward to having an open and honest relationship, even if it was only friendship, something would come up and they would end up taking two steps back. 

This was quickly escalating into a fight. It wasn’t their first and it definitely wouldn’t be their last.

“Funny, I don’t recall actually inviting you into my office.”

“I wanted to know how the date went! You know, if that’s how you feel about me taking an interest in your life …”

“I do not owe you an exclusive on my life!” he retorted.

“Oh, don’t worry. You’ve made your opinion very clear on that matter! How about we just re-define these so-called boundaries you’re going on about and …”

“Boundaries? When it comes to you, apparently there are no boundaries!”

“Well, I can change that,” she said, getting up. “By leaving! If you want to speak to me about any work-related stuff, you know where to find me. Otherwise, don’t bother!”

Clark growled in frustration as she walked out. God, she could get on his nerves sometimes.

His brother sounded amused when he talked to him later that day. Oliver hadn’t been able to help with the fire the day before as he’d promised his wife he would be there for her scan. He’d helped co-ordinate some of the efforts of the League members who had been able to go instead, since he had also felt Green Arrow wouldn’t be very effective. 

Clark hadn’t had a chance to talk to him about the date either. 

“Wait! Tess Mercer? You had a date with my ex?”

“She said you only went out for about two months.”

“Yeah. But we met on the island.”

Clark frowned. “This is the woman that was held hostage with you?”

“Yep.”

Oliver had told him a little of what had happened and how he managed to get off the island. He’d passed out after becoming exposed to some kind of toxin and woken up to find a woman watching him, or rather, the leeches on his body. She and a friend of hers had been taken hostage by drug smugglers. When the lead smuggler had realised who Oliver was, he’d decided to take him hostage as well. 

Thanks to the skills Oliver had learned while living on the island, he was able to foil the smugglers and force them to take them all back to civilisation. 

Clark still remembered the day he’d found out his brother was alive. He’d been in English when a note had been given to his teacher, telling him he was to go and see the headmaster. He’d thought he was in trouble until he’d opened the door and saw his brother standing there. He’d barely managed to stop himself from bursting into tears, flinging his arms around the older man. 

“So what happened? When you two split up?”

“Ah, she accused me of cheating on her. I swear, I wasn’t. I was being friendly to a waitress, like Dad taught us. Plus at the time I was just starting to work on the Green Arrow thing, so …”

Clark understood. Oliver had probably missed a call or two from his then-girlfriend and she had more than likely thought it meant he was out with someone else. 

“So she misunderstood.”

“Anyway, I’m glad we broke up in the end because then I wouldn’t have met Chloe. Oh, the scan went well, by the way.”

“Do you know what you’re having?” he asked.

“Yeah. A boy.”

“Congrats. That’s great. Have you thought of any names for him?”

“Connor, maybe. Or Jonas. Chloe’s firmly against Gabriel. She loves her dad, but she wanted something a bit less ‘biblical’.”

“Biblical?”

“Gabriel’s the name of an archangel. Or so we figure from that tv show she’s always watching.”

“Oh, yeah. I know the one you mean.” It was about two brothers who hunted monsters. The concept of angels had been introduced in the fourth season. 

“So, what are you going to do about Lois?”

“Nothing.”

“Ever think the reason you two fight all the time …”

“Don’t even go there, Oliver. I mean it.”

“You like her. Admit it.”

“I admit nothing!”

“Hmm, why can I hear Chloe saying something about Shakespeare again?”

Clark growled. “Shut up!”

“I said it before and I’ll say it again. Verbatim. You’re in denial, bro!”

“Damn it, I said don’t call me bro!”

“And he’s getting defensive.”

“I am not getting defensive! Why is it every time I complain about Lois, you try to say I’m in denial? You’re my brother. You’re supposed to be on my side!”

“I am on your side, Clark. I just wish you would stop lying to yourself and ask the woman out already!”

“I’m dating Tess.”

“One date is not a relationship!” Oliver pointed out. “And if you would get your head out of your ass for one second, you’d see that the reason you fight with Lois so much is because you both love yanking each other’s chains.”

“Do not!” he said vehemently.

“What are you? Twelve?”

“I hate you!”

“Yeah, and you always say that when you know I’m right. I have to admit when Chloe came up with this, I thought she was nuts but even I can see it. You two have chemistry, Clark.”

“Yeah, the kind of chemistry that goes kaboom!”

“Not if it’s mixed the right way.” Oliver chuckled. “You know what I’m talking about, right? Or do I need to draw you a diagram?”

“La la la, don’t want to hear it.”

“Oh, good God. Don’t tell me you are still a virgin! Well, here’s a hint, little brother. Tab A fits into Slot B.”

“Oh my God! You suck! I really hate you right now!”

As much as he often confided in Oliver, the last thing he was going to tell the older man was the fact that he had slept with one woman, but it had been disastrous. He had been worried about hurting her and had made things worse by his hesitancy. He loved his brother but he had worried Oliver would make fun of him for such a horrible first time.

“I’m hanging up,” he said. “Goodbye, Oliver!”

“’Bye, virgin boy!”

“Don’t make me fly there and beat your ass!”

“As if you would!”

“Jerk!” he said, copying the characters on the tv show Chloe loved.

“Bitch!” Oliver replied before hanging up. Clark shook his head in exasperation. His brother always had to have the last word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't resist the nod to another CW show although in this 'verse, it's still a tv show


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe worries about Clark's date.

Oliver was chuckling as he walked into the salon. Chloe looked up at her husband.

“What’s so funny?” she asked.

“Clark,” he said. He flopped down on the sofa. “He and Lois had another fight.”

“Yeah, I know. I was just talking to Lois. She was complaining about Clark.” She sighed. When were those two going to wake up to themselves and realise the reason they fought so much was they liked each other?

“He had a date with Tess Mercer last night.”

Chloe frowned. “The same Tess Mercer you dated for like two months?”

“Yep.”

“The one who is now an executive VP for LexCorp? Didn’t you tell him who she really is?”

“It didn’t come up.”

“Given Lex’s attitude toward Superman, I think Clark would want to know the woman he went out on a date with is Lex’s half-sister.”

As part of her work with the Justice League, Chloe had made a point of knowing all the players on the board, both sides. When she had heard that Oliver’s former girlfriend, if she could be called that since they’d only gone out two months, had been promoted to executive Vice President, she had done a bit more digging. 

It turned out Lionel had had an affair with a woman named Pamela who had once been Lillian Luthor’s assistant. He’d slept with the woman when his wife had been seriously ill with heart problems not long after Lex’s birth. Chloe had been able to track down a former employee who had told her the story.

A year or so later, Pamela had fallen pregnant. She had fought with Lionel, wanting to keep the baby after its birth. Lionel had demoted her, forcing her to become nanny to the young Alexander. When Lutessa had been born, Pamela had forced Lionel to acknowledge his daughter, giving her the Luthor name on her birth certificate, a record Chloe had found through City Hall. According to the records from St Louise’s Orphanage, Lionel had left her there himself, saying he was concerned her mother was mentally unstable. 

Just a few months later, he’d returned to the orphanage and taken Tess away, placing her with a couple in Louisiana. From all reports, the Mercers had been abusive and hardly fit to be parents.

It was typical of Luthor senior, she thought. Her interviews with former employees painted a picture of a man obsessed with tales of the great Emperors who would send their offspring out into the world, fearing they would eventually depose him. Those that did were clearly destined for greatness.

Chloe figured he was doing the same with his own children, testing their mettle by subjecting them to such cruelty. 

“I guess you’re right. Although I have a feeling he may be going out with her only so he can get some inside information about Lex.”

She nodded. “He may have bitten off more than he can chew. Tess can be just as cunning and manipulative as her brother.”

“Well, never mind that. I know we’re supposed to be playing it cool, or whatever, but can’t we do something about Clark and Lois?”

Chloe got up and sat next to her husband. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer, while rubbing her belly. She was six months along and feeling it.

“What would you suggest? Lock them in a room together until they admit their feelings? We both know how stubborn they can be.”

He sighed heavily. “Yeah, I know.”

“Honey, it’s only been two months. How long did it take us to get together?”

“Three months. But only because you were just as stubborn as your cousin.”

“Well, that’s true.”

“My persistence paid off in the end though,” he said, sounding smug. 

“How many times do I need to remind you that I wasn’t at all impressed with your gifts?”

He grumbled. “Yeah, yeah. So, what do we do?”

“What can we do? If they’re not ready to admit how they feel to us, there is no way they’ll be able to say it to each other.”

“You know, I think Chloe’s right, darling.”

Chloe looked at her mother-in-law, who had just entered the room. “You do?”

The elder blonde nodded. “Clark has always been too afraid to take the initiative when it comes to dating. And we both know why that is. He made the decision a long time ago not to tell anyone about his abilities and that is the one thing stopping him from having a healthy relationship.”

“So maybe we should figure out a way for Lois to discover he’s Superman,” Oliver suggested. 

Chloe shook her head. As much as she loved her cousin, she didn’t think Lois would understand Clark’s feelings about hiding his identity. While she didn’t exactly have a crush on Superman, she was sometimes too curious about him for her own good. 

Then again, she had mentioned something a month or so ago about something Superman had said to her. That people who knew too much about his personal life could use it to hurt those he loved. Lois had come to the conclusion that Superman chose not to reveal too much about himself, chose to set himself apart from humanity so he could protect people. 

“I don’t know,” she said. “I mean, sometimes she says something that gives me hope that she might accept him, but other times …”

“I don’t think you give Lois enough credit,” Moira said gently. “I know she can be a little thoughtless at times, but she has a big heart.”

Oliver frowned. “I kind of get it, though. I mean, if Lois knew the truth about Superman, before she admitted her feelings for Clark, then he might think the only reason she fell for him was because he was Superman. How is that fair to him?”

“It’s a dilemma,” his mother sighed. “And talking to them isn’t doing any good. I think the only thing we can do is let them work it out themselves. Eventually things will come to a head. I’m sure of it.”

“You’re right, Mom,” Chloe said. 

She had a feeling that if Clark began dating someone, then it might give Lois the wake-up call she needed. Then again, if Lois began dating someone, Clark might just step up.   
Or it could all blow up in their faces, she thought.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois again crosses the line between friendship and professional distance

Lois was steaming mad. How could he do this to her? 

She marched up the stairs and thrust open the double doors to his office suite. His assistant stared at her. Lois continued on past the woman’s desk, ready to barge into Clark’s office. Amanda hastily got to her feet and moved quickly to intercept her.

“You can’t … Lois, he is in a meeting!”

She ignored the woman and threw open the door. There were two men sitting on the leather couch, coffees in front of them. Clark had obviously been sitting in the armchair opposite them but some sixth sense had alerted him to her entry as he stood by the door.

“Lois, I am in a meeting!”

“How could you?” she accused. 

He raised his hands. “Lois, this is not the time to discuss this. I suggest you calm yourself and go back out and wait until this meeting is over!”

“Oh no you don’t! We’re going to talk about this right now!”

He grabbed her arm just above her elbow and began guiding her forcefully out the door. He turned his head.

“Please excuse us for a moment, gentlemen. Miss Lane seems to think her needs take priority over the paper’s budget.”

The two men smiled knowingly. Lois struggled against Clark’s grip, to no avail. Damn, the man was strong for a rich boy. 

She found herself propelled back into the outer office. Clark sent his assistant a pointed look. She nodded and went out without a word. Lois pulled herself out of his grip and stood waiting as he closed the doors to his office.

“Clark …”

“Don’t say another word, Lois!” He looked annoyed, but not angry. “I cut you a certain amount of slack but there are some lines you do not cross and barging into my office when you have been expressly told I’m in a meeting is one of them. I know why you did but we will discuss this later!”

“But …” 

He raised his hands. “I mean it, Lois. This is not the time, or the place. Now either you calm down and come back in an hour when you’re prepared to discuss it like the rational, mature woman I know you can be, or you take the rest of the day off and I will talk to you later. Is that clear?”

She stared at him, still not quite ready to obey his direct order. “But I …”

“Is that clear?” he repeated.

She bit her lip. “Crystal.”

“Good. Glad we’re on the same page. I’ll see you later.”

Sighing, she left the office. She went back to her own office but couldn’t concentrate on work, still too upset over what had happened. She had been working on a story concerning a project she had heard about through one of her contacts. According to the man, LexCorp had been experimenting on people with different abilities, trying to figure out if those abilities could be transferred. The research had been highly unethical and immoral.

She had written the story quoting a source who had claimed Lex had been ordering the removal of certain test subjects from Belle Reve, an institution for people judged criminally insane. Chloe had even told her about an earlier project which had basically been the precursor, although her cousin had warned that nothing could be proven. 

She had turned in the article well before deadline, sure she had a Pulitzer nomination in the bag. Perry had called her into his office and told her that Clark had chosen not to run the story. As publisher, it was his right, but it still didn’t make her very happy. 

She decided since she wasn’t going to get any work done, she might as well take the rest of the day off, as he’d suggested.

She walked around the local boutiques but didn’t buy anything, then decided to head on home. If Clark cared at all about her feelings then he could damn well come to her. 

She was sitting cross-legged on the couch, one eye on an old movie playing on the tv and halfway through a carton of Rocky Road ice cream when her intercom buzzed. She debated whether to answer it and got up from the couch with a heavy sigh. She pressed the button to release the door downstairs and went back to sit down on the couch. 

Her door opened a couple of minutes later.

“Don’t you lock your door?” Clark asked.

She sent him a look but didn’t reply. He sat on the armchair and reached behind him, picking up a bra she’d left on the chair. He didn’t even seem embarrassed as he held it up. 

“Okay, I get it. You’re upset with me.”

“Give the man a cigar.”

“No thanks. I don’t smoke.” He grinned at her. She just rolled her eyes and dumped the carton on the coffee table. 

“Look, Lois, I get it. You’re mad because I told Perry not to run the story about Lex’s involvement in the project. But did you ever stop to think about why?”

“We know he’s behind it. Oliver and Chloe even said so.”

“Yes, but there’s a big difference between knowing he is and actually proving it. The paper would be sued if we printed such accusations without the evidence to back it up. You know better than that. Look, I know you’ve got an axe to grind with him, but this is not the way to go about it.”

She scowled at him. “You don’t care about the truth.”

“That’s not true, and you know it. Lois, I don’t want to see you losing your job.”

“That’ll never happen.”

“If we were to print the story and Lex sued the paper, that’s exactly what will happen because the lawyers would demand it. I would back you up and I would fight for you, but we would both lose. Lois, you are a great reporter. Your passion and your dedication is what I admire most about you, but you have to realise that sometimes no matter what we do, the truth isn’t enough.”

For a moment, all she could focus on was the fact that he admired her. Then her logic brain kicked in and she realised he was right about the story. She didn’t have enough solid proof. 

Clark went to the door. “I’m sorry that I had to pull the story before talking to you, but you’ve been refusing to take my calls for two weeks now. I know you’re still angry at me over our fight. I get it. But if you would just get over yourself and see this from another angle, you’d see that I’m just trying to keep you from getting suspended. Or worse.”

She bit her lip, then nodded. She had been giving him the silent treatment, refusing to even pick up the phone or text him back. It had been childish. 

Clark looked at his phone. “Look, I’m sorry. I have to go. I have a date.”

“With Tess Mercer?” she said petulantly. It was pretty much a rhetorical question. Photographs of Clark with the redheaded executive had been splashed all over the tabloids. He’d refused to comment or give any details about the nature of their relationship but that hadn’t stopped the press from speculating. Some had even made up stories which claimed that Tess and Clark had been seen getting very intimate.

It had only been two weeks! she thought. Yet, the Inquisitor had them practically engaged. 

He gazed at her for a long moment. “There’s no need to get sulky, Lois. Yes, with Tess. She happens to be a very nice woman.”

“She’s too old for you.”

“It’s only four years,” he said. “It’s hardly robbing the cradle.”

“What do you see in her anyhow?”

“She’s good company,” he said. “She’s intelligent, well-read, attractive …”

“I could get all that if I googled her. What’s so great about her?”

He frowned at her. “I don’t think this is appropriate conversation, Lois.”

She waved her hand impatiently at him. “Fine. I guess since we’re, you know, not friends anymore, I would hate you to think I was prying into your private life. Never mind the fact that your brother is married to my cousin.”

“One thing has nothing to do with the other,” he returned shortly. “Now I really have to go.”

Lois was still annoyed with Clark the next day when she had to go to Met U to talk to a professor about another story she was working on. It wasn’t as exciting as dealing with somebody like the Prankster, but it was still a good, solid story about a football coach forcing a professor to change a grade on a paper so one of the students could play in a championship game. While it wasn’t anything new, the university board had been cracking down on it. 

The interview over, she was walking across campus when she heard her name called. She looked around with a frown, then smiled at the blond man jogging up to her. 

“Hello,” he said, grinning at her.

“Jack Kent. This is a nice surprise. How are you?”

“Oh, I’m great. How about you?”

“Can’t complain. Where are you headed?” she asked.

“I was just about to go to the coffee shop, just across the campus. Want to join me?”

“Sure,” she said with a smile. 

They began walking along the path. “So how’s your studies?” she asked. At the same time, he asked her what story she was working on.

“They’re good,” he replied.

“I was interviewing a professor about a coach changing a student’s grade,” she said simultaneously. They both grinned at each other. 

“I heard about the coach. Guess nothing’s changed much. I remember a few years ago there was this story that did the rounds at Smallville High. Some of the football players were caught cheating and the Torch did an article on it.”

Lois frowned. “The Torch?”

“Yeah, school paper.” He shook his head. “Both the principal and the kid that wrote the article nearly died in fires. Then the coach died in some kind of accident. We never really figured out what happened.”

They entered the coffee shop. Jack ordered them each a coffee and they sat down at a table. The shop was not particularly crowded. 

“Usually you see a lot of freshmen here, but I guess they’re taking advantage of the nice weather,” he said.

“I guess. So, you were telling me about this coach?”

“Yeah. He coached my dad in football too. He would have seen his 200th win with the Crows.”

“So you don’t really know what happened?”

“Just that there was a fire of some kind. Clark saw it but he didn’t know how it happened.”

“Clark was there?” she asked, smiling up at the girl who brought over their coffees. “Thanks.”

“Yeah. His girlfriend was on the cheerleading team and, well, he loved football. He and my dad loved watching the games together.”

“Sounds like Clark and your dad are really close,” she said, wondering if this was about the time Oliver had disappeared.

Jack nodded, sipping his cappuccino. “It was about a year or so after his dad and Oliver disappeared. It took him a long time to get over that. He would visit just about every weekend and help with the chores. Dad said it probably helped him to focus on something else.”

“What about his girlfriend?”

“Yeah, he’d come to see her too, until her and her aunt moved to Metropolis. They had a place about a mile from the farm. Lana went to some prep school, I think. I mean, Nell and her husband weren’t like rich, or anything. Not as rich as Clark’s parents, but they had enough for her to go to private school.”

Lois remembered what Moira had said about Lana’s aunt being a social climber. 

Jack leaned forward to speak confidentially. “Don’t tell Clark I said this but, well, Clark’s a really cool guy. I mean, you’d think being rich and stuff he’d be all arrogant, but he’s not. He’s just a normal guy. I mean, whenever we’re both at the farm, we just hang out and he plays basketball with me or we’ll go milk the cows or something.” 

“So, do you still hang out?” she asked.

Jack nodded. “Yeah, we had dinner the other night. At this old diner on Tucker Street.”

“I would have thought diners weren’t his style.”

“Are you kidding? He loves it. He can get away from the Paparazzi. I mean, they never go there. And he doesn’t have to dress up, so it’s like no one even recognises him. He gets to just chill, you know?”

“I guess. I don’t really talk to Clark much about his private life.” Not since he practically threw me out of his office, she thought.

Jack looked as if he’d read her expression. “You guys have a fight, or something?”

“No. I mean, he’s my boss.”

“I thought Clark said you were friends too.”

“Not anymore,” she said.

“What happened?”

“I … I don’t want to talk about it.”

Jack nodded. “Would you want to talk about it, say, Saturday?”

She frowned. Was he asking her out on a date? He had to be twenty-two, or twenty-three, not that three years made that much of a difference.

Then why were you so mad about Clark going out with Tess? she scolded herself.

“Don’t you have a game on Saturday?” she asked. She knew he was still on the Metropolis Bulldogs, the college football team. 

“We could meet after the game. I’d really like to get to know you, Lois.”

She considered it for a few moments. Clark was dating Tess and he wasn’t likely to be dropping her anytime soon. As much as she disliked the woman she had heard was like a pit-bull in Prada, she didn’t have the right to tell Clark not to go out with her. She had to get over this fixation.

It wasn’t fair on either of them if she just kept waiting for the man to wake up and smell the coffee. She needed to move on. He obviously already had. 

“All right,” she said. “How about I come to the game and meet you afterwards?”

Jack grinned. “It’s a date.”


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark is still trying to deny his feelings for Lois. It's a losing battle

They didn’t have family dinners very often. Moira was always busy with her charity work and both Oliver and Clark had the Justice League and other business which meant they had very little free time. Both brothers, however, knew when their mother said jump, they were to ask: ‘how high’? Especially when it was Christmas.

In the four months since Clark had taken on the role of publisher at the Daily Planet, he’d been home in Star City for dinner precisely two times. The only other times he’d seen his family had been when he’d dropped in on the way to somewhere else or when Oliver had to attend a meeting in Metropolis, either for the newspaper’s board or one of their other interests. Moira was on the boards of a couple of charitable foundations.

However, their mother had laid down the law this time, telling them they had to be home for Christmas dinner.

Moira beamed at her two sons. “Thank you, darlings. I know how busy you both are, but I’ve always told you, it’s important to make time for family. Especially when Chloe’s so close to having the baby.” She smiled at Chloe, who was doing her best to look cheerful with her huge baby belly. The doctors had estimated she was about three weeks from her due date. 

Oliver had told his brother he’d been practically kicked out of bed. His wife was constantly complaining of aches and pains in places even he didn’t want to know about. The worst part was the false labour pains she’d been feeling. He was constantly on the alert in case she went into actual labour, terrified to spend even an hour away from her, worried something might happen.

Clark had tried to calm his brother, but Oliver didn’t appear to want to be calmed. Clark knew they were at once excited and nervous about the impending birth, but considering the pain Chloe had gone through when she’d miscarried the first one, he could understand why. 

Oliver passed around the vegetables.

“So, are you still seeing Tess?” he asked.

Clark nodded. He liked the woman, although he didn’t really see the relationship going anywhere. He hadn’t slept with her and wasn’t planning to. Yet the stories in the tabloids kept fuelling speculation that he was planning to propose.   
He knew Tess wasn’t who she pretended to be. There were times when he heard a slight change in the timbre of her voice and knew she wasn’t being completely honest with him. 

He had the feeling she was not happy at LexCorp, but felt trapped by the fact that Lex was her half-brother, not that she’d actually told him that, as well as her position. He knew deep down she was an honest woman but had been manipulated by Lex into thinking that everything he was doing was for the good of mankind. She was slowly coming to the realisation that her boss’ main interest was in power. 

Clark wondered if the only reason she kept going out with him was so Lex could learn more about his biggest business rival, next to Wayne Enterprises. 

She’d recently told him that Lex had been in negotiations to buy the Metropolis Inquisitor, adding the newspaper to his media division. He already had the Luthor News Network, which was a television station. He didn’t need the paper. Especially one that was little more than trash. 

To Tess’ credit, she never asked him any questions about business. That didn’t mean, however, that he trusted her. She seemed to have other ways of getting information. 

“Why didn’t you bring her for dinner?” his mother asked.

“She had to go to Japan with Lex,” he said. “He doesn’t care about Christmas.”

“Lois said she had to work too,” Chloe said. “You know, she’s been dating Jack Kent.” 

Clark blinked at his sister-in-law. “Jack never said anything about that.”

“Well, why would he?” Oliver replied. 

“Because he’s practically family,” Clark told his brother. 

They’d met for dinner a few times in the past few weeks, but Jack had never mentioned he was going out with Lois. He hadn’t spoken to Lois either in that time. After the day she’d stormed into his office, she had been conspicuous by her absence. 

“Darling, maybe he thought it would upset you.”

He frowned at his mother. “Why would it upset me? What Lois does is not my concern.” He glowered at Oliver, who looked like he was about to say something. “And I am not in denial. That ship has sailed.”

“Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, Clark,” Oliver replied. 

He tried to ignore his brother’s pointed remark, but if he was being honest with himself, he missed her. He missed her chatter and the way she would go off on different tangents. She was passionate about her job and it showed.

The few times he’d had lunch with her, before their fight, he’d just sat back in rapt silence as she talked about whatever story she was currently working on. She was a good storyteller, which was why her articles were so popular. She never appeared to be concerned that he didn’t talk during those times, or else she was so deep in her story that she just didn’t notice. 

Maybe it had crossed ethical boundaries, but he’d expressly made a point of leaving editorial decisions up to Perry, unless there were legal issues involved. He’d thought that way no one could question his friendship with Lois and try to say that he let her get away with things that no one else could. 

That hadn’t stopped her from taking liberties though. That was why he had been pissed off with her. Did she not realise the problems she could create by acting like he had given her free rein? If he allowed her to continue, what next? Would she think that gave her free rein to cross ethical boundaries in her work as well? 

Maybe she didn’t understand that. Maybe she thought he would just let something like the story she’d done on Lex slide. He wasn’t about to let the Daily Planet be on the wrong end of a lawsuit.

“Do you think I’m wrong?” he asked Chloe later. They were in the salon. His sister-in-law was relaxing with an herbal tea and he was drinking bourbon. Oliver and their mother had gone to take a conference call.

He’d just been outlining his thoughts.

“No. The thing is, you’re already walking a fine line with Lois and I agreed with Ollie when you discussed this whole thing. Does that mean you shouldn’t have a relationship with Lois? No. As long as you can keep your personal and professional lives separate.”

“But I don’t have a relationship with her.”

“Not now, you don’t. Look, I get it. Lois can be a little reckless sometimes. It’s not her fault. She’s used to being bold as brass. And yeah, that gets her into trouble more often than not. You just have to remember that she doesn’t always think things through. She’s passionate about what she does and that makes her dive in head first.”

She sighed. “The thing is, I think Lois feels that she has to be the best at everything because of her dad.”

Clark sat next to her. “What do you mean?”

“Well, when her mom died, her father just … I don’t know. Switched off, I guess. He just stopped taking an interest in both her and Lucy.”

“So, what, she’s trying to get his attention?”

“Maybe. Except he hates the media.”

Clark couldn’t imagine not being close to his family. They were far from perfect, but they had always backed each other up. He knew their lifestyle was considered a little unusual. The mansion in Star City and the expensive cars were really the only outward signs of their wealth. They didn’t flaunt it as much as someone like Lex. 

He’d been raised in a loving home, with parents who made a point of keeping to a strict schedule. No matter what deal they were working on, business stopped at five-thirty so they could be home to spend time with their children by six. The only exception was if they had to call someone on the other side of the world. Even then, those calls were rare. That was apparently just as unusual. 

He returned to Metropolis only to be called out by the Justice League. There had been a volcanic eruption in Guatemala and an entire village was about to be buried in lava. 

It was two days before he returned to Metropolis. The city’s papers were full of stories of the people he had saved. 

He happened to be passing by the bullpen when he heard Lois ranting. Normally she would be in her office but not this time. 

“These people are unbelievable!” she was saying. “Superman is not their exclusive property. He saves five hundred people in Guatemala and all they can complain about is that he wasn’t here to stop a hostage situation in a bank? What were the police doing while these hostages were getting shot? Eating donuts?”

She looked up, clearly startled to see him watching. 

“You should write an editorial!” she told him.

“About what?” he asked. 

She thrust the newspaper into his hands. “This!”

He looked down at the page. It was the day’s copy of the Metropolis Star. The front page article was strongly criticising Superman for not being there when four men had robbed a bank, taking several people hostage. When the hostage negotiator had failed to meet their demands fast enough, two of the hostages had been killed. 

How was he supposed to respond to something like that? Did the people of Metropolis really expect him to be able to be everywhere at once? He’d been trying to save five hundred people over two thousand miles away!

“The man risks his life to save people from a volcano!” Lois continued to rant. “They should be grateful, but oh no, all they can do is act like they have the right to decide who Superman saves!”

“Lois, you’re ranting again!” Perry said, coming up behind them. “You’ve been ranting for two days!”

“Well, don’t you think someone should say something about this?”

“Far be it from me to remind you that I am your boss,” Perry said. “And I’ve already had my say on the matter. The fact that you scored the first interview with him is irrelevant. Superman does not belong to the Daily Planet, any more than he belongs to the city of Metropolis! If we were to write a rebuttal to this trash, it would look like we were taking sides!”

Clark nodded. “Well said, Perry!”

Lois shot daggers at him. “I should have guessed you’d take his side.”

“This is not about taking sides,” he returned, acutely aware they had gathered an audience. “It is not good business sense.” He raised his hand as she opened her mouth to argue once again. “Nor is it good journalism. As a reporter, your first duty is to be unbiased. We both know that when it comes to Superman, you have a personal bias.” 

She once again tried to say something, but he refused to let her have the last word.

“That’s it! Enough! As Perry is editor-in-chief, the decision is his. There will be no more discussion!”

Lois looked mutinous as he turned on his heel and left. He had barely made it to his office when he heard footsteps. He turned to see who had followed him and sighed in relief.

“Perry.”

“I thought you handled that well, kid.”

He nodded. “Thanks, but I’m not so sure.”

“Look, we both know Lois can be a bit high-strung. I know you two have had your differences lately.”

“Lately? Try the last two months!” he said glumly.

“Well, I hate to say it, but maybe it’s for the best. You and Lois are sometimes like oil and water.”

“Are you saying we’re rather, uh, volatile?”

Perry chuckled. “Yeah. I know you tried to skirt round the whole ethics thing by leaving all editorial decisions up to me. Mostly. What with Lois being almost family and all.”

“I don’t think there was really any other way to handle it. You’re right about her personal bias where Superman is concerned though. I don’t think it’s possible for her to be completely impartial when it comes to him.”

“Yeah, well that might have something to do with the fact that he’s saving her neck every other week.”

“Well, she wouldn’t be Lois if she wasn’t getting into mortal peril every so often.” The editor laughed.

Despite their differences over the past few weeks. Clark had still had to rescue her as Superman over numerous occasions. He’d tried to talk to her about keeping safe, but it just didn’t seem to get through. 

He went to dinner with Tess that night but he just couldn’t muster any enthusiasm.

“Is everything okay?” Tess asked. “You’re awfully quiet tonight.”

“Yeah, just trouble at work.”

“Not Lois again?”

He sighed. “Who else?”

They finished their dinner and left the restaurant, walking down the street together. It had been snowing off and on and the streets were icy. Tess had elected to meet him at the restaurant, which was only a block from the Daily Planet and Luthor Plaza.

Tess turned to him.

“If she’s this much trouble, maybe you should let her go.”

“She’s still the best reporter on staff.”

“No, not that. I mean, obviously her articles still sell papers. I mean, personally. I don’t even know why you’re with me when it’s obvious she’s really the one you want to be with! I mean, you’re always saying she drives you crazy!” She sounded upset. “And I know you think I only went out with you because of Lex. He may be my brother but I don’t have to like him. Or spy on his business rivals for him.”

He couldn’t lie to her. She knew. She had always known. 

“I’m sorry,” he said. 

She shook her head. “I’m sorry too,” she said. She stopped walking and turned to him, kissing his cheek. She walked away without another word. 

He sighed heavily and walked the rest of the way to the clocktower. It began snowing again, a little more heavily this time. As he approached the main door, he saw someone waiting in the shadows. The figure emerged from the doorway. 

“Lois?”

She looked uncertain. “I’m sorry. I …” It was unusual for the woman who was usually so brash, so sure of herself. He wanted to put it down to the fight they'd had, but he had the feeling it was more than that. She seemed almost scared.

“What’s going on?” he asked. 

“There’s this guy. I did a story that sent him to jail three years ago. Well, he’s out and …”

“And what?”

“He’s planning to kill me!” she wailed.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois turns to Clark when an old enemy threatens to kill her

Lois watched as Clark paced back and forth while talking on the phone. He had brought her up to his apartment and given her a glass of brandy, settling her on the couch in the living room. She had told him everything and he’d listened without interrupting. Then he’d grabbed the phone to call a friend of his in the police department. 

She shivered, thinking about the man who had threatened to kill her. She hadn’t even known he was out of prison.

Trax had been part of a gang setting fires around an area near the waterfront. Lois had received permission to go along with the local fire department as an observer, but on the night she was supposed to go, they had been forced to cancel as they had more calls than they could handle. Someone was causing fires to break-out within a three block radius. The attacks had been in random locations, forcing the firefighters to split their focus.

Thanks to the help of a mystery person, the whole of the Metropolis fire department was able to stop the fires from spreading. Thinking about it later, Lois was convinced that it had been Superman, but had never been able to ask him about it. 

Keen to get the story, she had begun her own investigation, tracking down several contacts who had sworn to her that a gang had been behind it. The reason was unclear, but another contact had told her the gang had been paid to set the fires, even supplied with the necessary equipment. 

What made it worse was two homeless people had been killed in one of the fires. Lois’ contact had fingered Trax for the deed and she had given as much information as she could to the police, who had then tracked the man down. In return, she had published an exclusive.

During the trial, Trax had stared straight at her, then blew her a kiss. She had wanted to walk out of the courtroom. The man revolted her. He had tattoos all over his face – some of them insignias from racist groups. He had a reputation for violence and had no respect for women.

He had been sentenced to five years in prison. His defence attorney had cut a deal with the District Attorney which allowed Trax to plead guilty to a lesser charge, instead of murder. 

Lois had been working on the Guatemalan story when she had got the phone call. She still shuddered when she recalled hearing that husky voice telling her she better be looking over her shoulder. 

Clark came back in from the terrace. He put his phone down on the table.

“John will come by. He’s going to send two uniform guys from the closest precinct over to your place to check it out and I’ve given him consent to get the call logs from the phone company.” He looked at her with concern. “Are you okay? Do you need anything?”

She shook her head. “No. I just … can I stay here for a while?”

“Of course,” he said sympathetically. 

She rubbed her arms. The apartment was warm but she still felt frozen. She’d been threatened plenty of times, but there was something about Trax that scared her. 

After she had dropped the phone in shock, she had known she couldn’t stay at the Planet. Being a Friday night, most of the staff had already left for the weekend. The night shift was usually just a skeleton crew. Since Lois was more or less a senior journalist, she didn’t have to cover weekends or holidays and normally didn’t unless she had something she was chasing. 

She hadn’t given it much thought when she had been deciding where to go. Her instinct had been to go to Clark. He was always the first person she thought of when she needed a friend. Even if they hadn’t exactly been speaking for several weeks.

That was her fault, she thought. If she had actually used her common sense, she would have realised that he was just trying to protect the integrity of the Planet. If people knew about their friendship, they might jump to the conclusion that she only had her position because of it. 

“I’m sorry,” she said.

He frowned at her. “For what?”

“For being stupid. For taking advantage of our friendship. I don’t know. Everything.”

“Well, to be honest, we both could have handled things better.”

“No. You were just, you know, being the boss. I mean, it’s your job. I’m the one who keeps trying to blur the lines.”

“Only because I let you. Initially, anyway.”

She rolled her eyes, relaxing for the first time since she’d seen him on the street. 

“Could you just let me apologise?” She sighed and shook her head. “You drive me crazy sometimes. I mean, you can be so uptight. How can a guy who looks like you be so uptight?”

He huffed. “Is that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?”

“Oh my god, are we gonna have another fight?”

“Seems like all we do,” he said, his lips quirking in a smile. 

She gazed at him for a long moment, sighing softly. Why was it so hard to stay mad at him? Why couldn’t she just …

“He’s dating Tess,” she told herself. 

She’d kept her distance on purpose. Not just because of the way he’d told her off for overstepping her bounds, but also because her feelings for him just seemed to grow stronger. 

She really had no idea when it had started. Maybe it had been a gradual thing. She had never believed in love at first sight, but she did remember the first time she had seen him at the Ace of Clubs and being immediately attracted. That didn’t happen to her very often, or at all. 

The night he’d met Tess Mercer, she had been totally jealous of the woman, hating her for the way Clark had smiled, wishing that smile had been directed at her. 

It was only when they’d argued that she had realised her real feelings. She loved him. She’d done her best to hide it, but it had been like a physical pain. She’d had to walk out before she burst into tears. 

Clark got up and walked out of the room. Lois heard the sound of the elevator door clanging and looked up expectantly. Detective John Jones walked into the room. He appeared worried.

“Miss Lane.”

“Detective.”

“Two officers are at your apartment now,” he said. “I’m afraid it’s not good news.”

She frowned at him. “Define not good news.”

“Someone broke in. The locks were smashed and it has been vandalised.” She listened as he told her the police officers had found offensive words spray-painted on the walls. The cushions on her couch had been slashed, the stuffing pulled out and someone had also gone through her personal belongings. 

She felt ill. She had just had a sandwich at her desk but it felt like it was coming back up to meet her. Along with the brandy she’d just drunk.

Clark put a hand on her shoulder and crouched down. “You’re safe here,” he said.

“But, he went through my things. My clothing!”

“Things can be replaced,” Clark said gently. “You can’t.”

She shook her head. “I have a picture of my mom. It was taken not long before she died. If he …”

“I’ll pay for it to be restored,” Clark promised. “And you can stay here as long as you need to. As long as it takes to get this man back behind bars.”

He stood up again and went to talk to Jones. Lois watched them for a moment, hugging herself. Part of her couldn’t understand it. She’d faced people like Lex Luthor, or Kyle Griffin, both far smarter than Trax. What was it about him that made her so afraid? 

The elevator clanged again and she frowned. J’onn was still talking to Clark in the corner of the room.

Perry practically ran in. “Honey, are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she said. “Clark told you?”

“He called me, but … Lois, a woman was stabbed in the alley behind the Daily Planet. For a second when I saw the body I thought it was you.”

She stared at him. “What?”

“She looked a lot like you,” he said. “Same colour hair, same build. I guess the assailant mistook her for you.”

Now she felt really sick. Clark immediately came to her side. “I’m sorry,” he said. “When I spoke to John, he told me about the stabbing.” He shot a look at Perry. “She really didn’t need to know that,” he admonished quietly. 

Perry nodded apologetically. “Sorry,” he said. “I was just so worried when I heard …”

“It’s all right. But I think it’s safe to say she’s had enough shocks for tonight.”

“Of course. You’re right.”

Clark helped her to her feet. “Come on, Lois. I think you need to get some sleep. You can borrow one of my old t-shirts to sleep in.”

She let him lead her up the circular steps to the bedrooms. The few times she had been to the apartment she had never actually seen the upstairs. Clark obviously had fairly simple tastes as the bedrooms were not lavish. 

“That’s my room,” he said, pointing across the hall. She could just see a king-size bed covered with a plain cream and brown comforter. He guided her to a room directly opposite his. “The guest room. Mom usually sleeps here when she stays over. Oliver and Chloe have their own room just down the hall. Um, they have their own bathroom, but the guest bathroom is the next one on the right.”

He gently guided her through the door and went to the bed, turning down the comforter. 

“Sit here. I’ll be back in a minute with that shirt.”

She nodded, watching as he started to leave the room. “Clark?” He paused in the doorway, looking at her expectantly. “Thank you,” she said.

With a nod, he left the room. Lois sat on the bed and sighed. Clark had been so sweet, so kind. Having been raised by a man who was rather gruff in manner and used to ordering around three thousand soldiers, she was unaccustomed to kindness. 

She had thought a lot about Clark in the past two months. He’d once accused her of being closed-off and putting up walls. She realised now that the stupid things she did were just another way for her to put up those walls. As if her actions were designed to push him away. She was afraid of letting him get close, afraid that she might lose him, the way she had her father. 

She recalled once again the way Trax had spoken to her. The casual menace in his tone, the words he’d spoken. He’d not just threatened to kill her. What he’d told her he would do amounted to nothing less than torture.

She wondered if he had done exactly that to the girl he’d stabbed, or had he quickly realised he had the wrong woman and just killed her.

Her hands were shaking. She tried rubbing each finger, as if that would help her erase the feeling that she would never be clean. She didn’t realise she was crying until she felt strong arms around her.

“It’s okay,” Clark said softly. “It’ll be okay. Just let it out.”

She buried her face in his chest, sobbing. Lois had always considered herself to be fairly strong, but this had shaken her to the core. She was overwrought and more than a little scared. 

“I promise I won’t let anything happen to you,” he said. “Not as long as I’m able to protect you.”

She nodded, suddenly feeling very tired. She barely noticed Clark helping her undress and get into bed. She fell asleep without any trouble at all.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark takes care of Lois

Clark crept downstairs. Perry was talking to J’onn about security at the Planet.

“As much as I want to do the same,” he said, “I think Lois would think it’s overkill.”

“Well, sometimes, I think Lois doesn’t know what’s good for her,” the editor replied. 

“I’m afraid it will not do much good,” the Martian Manhunter told them. “If this man is the culprit and is determined to get to her, there is very little extra security can do to protect her.” Perry nodded his agreement. 

“Well, she can stay here for the time being,” Clark said. “If I have to, I’ll make it a direct order that she has to stay away from the Planet.”

“Good luck,” Perry said. “That little lady is as stubborn as they come.”

There was further discussion on the murder and trying to get any surveillance footage. Given the weather conditions, Clark doubted anyone would have seen anything and was not sure the street cameras would pick up anything either. 

J’onn left to check on the investigation. Clark knew he would be alerting the members of the League as well. The sooner they found the killer and got him locked up again, the better.  
Perry looked at him. “How is she? Really? She didn’t look too good earlier.”

“Yeah. She’s sleeping right now. She broke down earlier.”

The editor looked surprised. “It’s not like her to do that.”

“I think this guy scares her more than she wants to admit.”

“You’re right. He’s not exactly a pleasant character. The D.A. who did the deal with his attorney turned out to be just as crooked.”

“Figures,” Clark said. He wished he’d been in Metropolis when the man had originally been caught. He had been there when the fires had broken out and had helped the fire department by taking care of the worst of it, but he had had to return to the fortress. At that time, his birth father’s avatar had instructed him not to interfere in the petty affairs of humans and only to prevent major catastrophe, if at all possible. 

“Are you sure you don’t want to increase security?” Perry asked. 

“I think it might upset her even more,” he said. 

“True.” He stood up from the couch. “I should get going myself.”

“Be careful, Perry. This guy might come gunning for you too.”

The older man nodded. Clark walked with him to the elevator and waited as the car descended. As soon as it disappeared from sight, he went to the hidden room and pressed the remote. He entered the room and picked up a communicator. 

“Superman to Watchtower.”

“Watchtower here.”

“Who’s on duty tonight?” he asked. Since he’d been away in Guatemala he hadn’t had a chance to check the roster.

“Flash,” came the answer. 

“Good. Contact Bart and have him patrol the area around Perry White’s apartment.”

“You think this guy will go after Perry as well, Boy Scout?” Aquaman asked. 

“It’s possible. He did print the article. Uh, you haven’t relayed it to Green Arrow, have you?”

There was a moment’s hesitation. “AC? Please tell me you did not send a message to Star City?”

“Uh … About five minutes ago.”

His phone began ringing. He knew instantly from the ringtone who it was. Chloe had downloaded a song called Superman by a group that had been well-known when he was a teenager and set it as a ringtone as a joke. He didn’t think it was particularly funny.   
Apparently the Leaguers knew about it as well as AC made a snarky comment. 

“You’re in trouble now,” he said. 

“Yeah, thanks. Thanks a lot.” He shut off the communicator and picked up the phone. “Chloe.”

“Where is she?” his sister-in-law practically shouted.

“She’s fine. She’s in the guest room. Hopefully asleep,” he said, tuning out every sound just so he could listen for her. He was relieved when he heard her deep, even breathing.

“I’m flying there right now.”

“No you’re not!” Oliver said in the background. “For one thing, it’s below freezing out there and two, if you fly this late in the pregnancy the doc said you could go into labour!”

“He’s right, Chloe,” Clark said. 

“Oh, what do you know? I want to talk to her.”

“She’s sleeping,” he said firmly. “She’s exhausted and she’s overwrought. The best thing you can do for her is let her get some rest.”

“How the hell did this guy get out?” she asked.

“J’onn is looking into that.”

“And what are the rest of you guys doing? Sitting on your asses …”

“Chloe!” Oliver called out.

“That’s not fair, Chloe,” Clark said. 

“What do you want him to do?” his brother replied. “You want him to protect your cousin or leave her alone while he goes out to find this guy? He can’t be in two places at once.”

“The League will be onto it. I promise.”

He heard Oliver speaking in low tones to his wife. She was much calmer when she spoke again. 

“I’m sorry, Clark. You’re right. It isn’t fair. I just … I’m worried about her.”

“Which is natural,” he said kindly. “But there isn’t much you can do from Star City and if you stress yourself out, you’ll go into labour. She’s safe here for the moment. I promise, I will take care of her.”

“I know you will,” she said quietly. “But promise me you’ll be careful too. You weren’t there when she helped put this guy away three years ago. The things he said. The man is a complete sociopath, Clark! Worse than Lex Luthor, and that’s saying a lot.”

“I promise,” he said. “Look, I better get to bed as well. I’ll get Lois to call you in the morning, okay?”

“Yeah, okay. Just … tell her I love her.”

“I will. Good night, Chloe.”

“Good night.”

He made sure everything was secure and activated the alarm before going upstairs to bed. He looked in on Lois but she still appeared to be sound asleep. He went into his own room, undressed and fell asleep a short time later.

The next thing he knew, he heard Lois crying out. He got out of bed quickly and went to her room. She was tossing in the bed, clearly dreaming.

“No! Please! Please!”

She suddenly bolted upright. Clark could tell her heart was beating almost too fast. He stepped into the room and she started. 

“It’s just me,” he said. “Are you all right?”

“I … No. I’m not. I was dreaming … nightmare.” She shivered. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked gently, sitting down on the bed and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. 

“I don’t know,” she said, sighing. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For causing you so much trouble.”

“Lois, you are not causing me any trouble. I’m glad you felt you could come to me.”

He chose not to ask her if she had thought about going to Jack Kent’s place instead. He figured the less said about that, the better. 

“I don’t know what it is, but somehow, I …” She shook her head. “It’s nuts.”

“What?”

“I knew I’d be safe with you.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” he said with a smile. 

She looked at him, her eyes doing an odd dance. “Why is it you always seem to know how to make me feel better? Even when I’ve been a total bitch to you.”

“You haven’t,” he told her. “Yes, you’ve had moments where I’ve been a bit annoyed, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say you’ve been a bitch. A little thoughtless, perhaps, and you could learn to use a little more tact …”

“Is this supposed to be you comforting me?” she asked.

He grinned. “Sorry.”

“I guess you’ve got a point.”

He caressed her cheek, tucking her long hair behind her ears. She looked at him again with a curious expression. For a moment he was tempted to kiss her. He gazed at her full lips, wondering just what it would be like to do so. It wasn’t the first time he’d wanted to kiss her but he’d always hesitated. 

Her hazel eyes were wide as she stared at him. Her face was bathed in the light from the hallway, giving her skin a soft glow. 

“Clark?” She sounded so uncertain.

“Get some sleep,” he said gently, pulling away from her. For some reason she looked disappointed. He got up and waited as she settled down in the bed again, then quietly left the room, going back to bed himself.

The next morning, he went downstairs to prepare breakfast to find Lois was already up. She was still wearing the t-shirt, the hem barely reaching mid-thigh. 

“I didn’t have anything else to wear,” she said.

“It’s okay. I can call my assistant and get her to pick you up something.”

She shook her head. “I should go home, I don’t want to …”

He went to her, grasping her arms in a gentle but firm hold “You are not in the way here,” he said. “And I would prefer you stay where you’re safe. If you go back to your apartment, Trax might find you there.”

“But I …”

“Chloe would never forgive me,” he said.

She sighed. “Chloe. I should call her. Tell her …”

“She knows,” he told her. “Don’t ask me how she found out, but she was just about ready to get on a plane and come here.”

Lois’ eyes widened. “Is she crazy? She could go into early labour!”

“Yeah, I know. Thankfully, Oliver managed to talk her down, but she’s not my biggest fan right now.”

“Well, that’s not fair. It’s not your fault.”

Obviously since she didn’t know he was Superman, she couldn’t possibly understand why Chloe had felt that way. 

He quickly made them breakfast and gave Lois a robe to put on until his assistant Amanda could bring by a change of clothes. Lois went back upstairs to shower while he called the other woman and got her to sort it out. She promised to be there within the hour. 

As he hung up his phone beeped. He glanced at the caller i.d and realised it was his mother’s private number.

“Mom?”

“Hello, darling. How is everything this morning?”

“It’s okay. Lois is upstairs taking a shower.”

“Is she still upset?”

“She hasn’t said much, but she’s worried about being in my way. How’s Chloe?”

“She’s fine. Naturally, she’s worried about Lois, but Ollie managed to calm her down. I saw the story online. That poor girl. Are the police certain this man is the culprit?”

“I don’t know, Mom. I’ll talk to J’onn later and see what he managed to find out.” His phone beeped. “Sorry, Mom, it’s another call.” He glanced at the identification of the caller. “It’s Uncle Jonathan.”

“I can wait, sweetheart.”

He put her on hold and answered the call. “Uncle Jonathan?”

“Hey, son. Jack called us and told us what happened at the Planet. Is Lois all right?”

“She’s fine. Upset, of course, but that’s understandable.”

“Of course. You know, we have a spare room if she needs a place to stay.”

“Thanks, but I’d rather keep an eye on her,” he said. He glanced up, hearing her footsteps on the metal stair. He sent her a reassuring smile. “I appreciate the thought though.”

“All right, son. You know if you two need anything, you can always call us.”

“Thank you.” He released the call and went back to his mother. “Mom?”

“I’m here. Do you need anything?”

“No, I’ve pretty much got it covered. Tell Chloe I’ll get Lois to call her later.”

“I will. Tell her I’m thinking of her.”

“Thanks Mom.”

He looked at Lois as he put down the phone. “Mom sends her regards.”

She nodded. “You’re lucky. I mean, your mom and Oliver are great.”

“Yeah, they are. It’s hard, sometimes, with them being in Star City and me here in Metropolis, but I talk to them almost every day.” 

“I wish I was closer to my dad, or Lucy, but …” She shrugged. “Dysfunctional families.”

“What was it like? After your mom died.”

“It was like he … shut down, I guess. I mean, you once accused me of being closed-off but he was worse. I mean, yeah, I do put up walls but with him, it really is like Fort Knox.”

“I shouldn’t have said that,” he said. “You being closed-off, I mean.”

“No. You were right. I realise now I do put up a lot of walls. I guess that makes it really hard for people to get to know me.”

“It must have hurt. With your dad.”

“Yeah. Imagine being six years old and realising that your dad’s work means more to him than his family.”

“Especially when that was the time you needed him the most.”

“Lucy was sort of lucky. I mean, she got to go off to boarding school and I got dragged around the world like a spare piece of luggage.”

Clark didn’t comment, knowing that nothing he said would provide much comfort for her. He had lost a parent too, but even though he had had his share of troubles after his father died, his mother had never made him feel the way Lois’ father had made her feel. Being adopted and being an alien on top of it hadn’t changed the way his mother felt about him. As far as she was concerned, he was a gift.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois gets a message on her voicemail and makes a bad decision

Lois quietly drank her coffee, not sure what to do next. She really did think she should perhaps go back to her apartment and at least pick up some things, but Clark was insistent she stay. 

Clark got up at the door buzzer and went out into the living room, or whatever it was. While it was furnished with comfortable couches, it was too big to really be called a living room, but she didn’t know what else to call it.

He came back in after about a minute with some shopping bags. She recognised the logo as being from a local department store which she never visited. The clothes tended to cost a good chunk of her monthly salary. 

“There’s some jeans and shirts. I think there’s a sweater in here. Oh, and I guess Amanda got some underwear.”

He laid them on one of the chairs. 

“Listen, there are some things I have to do. I can contact a friend of mine and have him come over …”

“I don’t need a babysitter,” she said quietly.

“Nevertheless, I would feel better if you had someone stay with you. And you are not to go into the Daily Planet. I’m guessing you’ll think I’m being over-protective but I don’t want to take any chances. Promise me you will stay put.”

She chewed on her lower lip. She did think he was being over-protective, but then again, a woman had been killed last night. Common sense told her she should listen to him, even if the less rational part of her brain told her she was missing an opportunity for a big story. 

“Lois, I mean it. What I said about Chloe never forgiving me, I would never forgive myself if anything happened. Please do as I ask.”

She sighed. “Okay. I promise.”

“Great. I’m going to call my friend. Why don’t you go upstairs and get dressed?”

She nodded and went back upstairs to the bathroom, taking the bags with her. She happened to glance at the price tags and was shocked at the prices. Even the jeans cost almost as much as she was paid in a week. She decided she wasn’t going to quibble with him over how much money he’d spent, since the clothes she’d worn the day before had been ruined in the weather. She hadn’t exactly been thinking about the snow when she fled her office. 

She didn’t think she had been gone that long, but a man with dark blond hair was standing next to Clark when she went back downstairs again.

“Hi, Lois,” he said. “Name’s Arthur Curry. My friends call me AC.”

“Hello AC,” she said. 

He turned to Clark. “Don’t worry about a thing,” he told her boss. “I’ll stick around as long as you need me to.”

Clark smiled at him. “Sure. Thanks AC.” He looked at Lois. “Help yourself to anything. I have some movies if you want to watch them. AC will show you where everything is.”

She nodded. “Thank you.”

He sent her an odd look but didn’t comment further, leaving the room. She heard the clang of metal a moment later and knew he’d left in the elevator. 

She studied AC, who smiled at her. “You sure are pretty,” he said. “I can see why he likes you.”

He likes me? she thought. What does that mean, exactly? “Uh, thanks,” she replied. “So, um, where do you …”

“Miami,” he said. 

“How did you meet Clark?” She was curious how a man who lived in Miami had got to know her boss. Not that it really mattered all that much, but she had always had a curious nature.

“Kind of a long story. I was sort of involved in this project. Well, not involved. More like trying to stop this project from happening. Anyway, Clark found out about it and helped me out of a tight spot. I work with him now. Him and his bro.”

“So I guess you’ve known each other a few years then.”

“Yup. Clark’s a good guy. You know, he’s not like guys like that Luthor. He doesn’t, like, flaunt his money. You know?”

“Yeah, I do.” She frowned at the mention of Lex Luthor, wondering what business AC would be involved in that would also involve someone like Lex. 

She poured herself another coffee and offered one to AC. He politely declined, saying he didn’t really like coffee. She tried to make a joke about her and her cousin’s addiction to the beverage but he didn’t really get it.

She spent most of the morning just wandering around the loft apartment, looking over the shelves of books. Clark had quite a library and all the books had clearly been read. She picked up one or two of some she hadn’t read herself and looked at the back cover, but didn’t feel like reading. 

She decided to check her phone for any messages and went upstairs to grab it. She discovered there were at least a dozen missed calls, mostly from various contacts. She saw one of the missed calls was from TJ, the man who had given her Clark’s address.

TJ owned a bar a few blocks from the Planet. It was not a classy place by any means but at least the bar was clean and the food was good. TJ paid his staff well and made sure his customers were happy. There had only ever been one fight in the bar since he’d taken it over and the man he’d hired to keep an eye on things ensured any potential troublemakers were kicked out before anything could happen.

That was not to say that TJ didn’t have his share of trouble. Lois had heard that he had grown up in Suicide Slum and knew a few people involved in the local gangs. He preferred to live and let live and didn’t judge others. That didn’t mean he didn’t pass on information if he felt it was necessary and often did so, but only to those he trusted, like Lois. 

She’d got to know him through an old friend. Wes Keenan’s family had been stationed at Fort Addelson when Lois was in her early teens. Wes had joined the army himself and transferred overseas not long after the base was shut down. 

She called TJ.

“Damn, kid. I’ve been hearing all sorts of things. Where are you?”

“I’m with a … friend,” she said, unwilling to reveal she was in her boss’ apartment. 

“Well, I heard this psycho was gunning for you. I need to talk to you.”

“You are talking to me,” she said.

“Nah, kid. It’s best you come down to the bar. Talk face to face.”

She frowned. It seemed innocent enough, but she’d promised Clark she’d stay put. She considered it for a moment. What could it hurt? TJ was a friend. Kind of. Maybe if AC came with her …

“All right. I’ll be there soon,” she said. 

She went back downstairs. AC was studying something on a laptop but he looked up as she entered.

“Uh, I need to go somewhere,” she said. “It’s about a story.”

“Boss told me you need to stay put.”

“I know,” she said. “And I wouldn’t go if it wasn’t important. You can come with. My contact … he’s not going to question it.” She sent him pleading eyes, hoping he would relent. 

The blond man appeared to consider it. “All right.”

“Great!” she said. She grabbed her bag from where she’d left it the night before and left the room, pulling the elevator door open. She heard AC following her.

It took a few minutes for the elevator to reach the first floor of the tower. She chewed on her lip, wondering what TJ had to tell her.

“So, where are we going?” AC asked.

“Um, it’s just a bar. A few blocks from here.”

“Can you trust this guy?” he asked. 

That was a good question. TJ was a good guy but he would often do favours for others that weren’t exactly legal, if only to keep his business from being threatened by the local gangs. 

She trusted him enough to not give her bad information. He had never put her wrong in the past. 

“I should call Clark,” he said. 

“He’ll just worry,” she replied.

AC still looked uncertain. She huffed as the elevator ground to a halt and pulled the door open. 

“Call him or don’t call him. I’m still going.” She left him standing in the middle of the foyer before pushing the main door open. She waved for a taxi. 

AC followed, clearly reluctant. She heard him making a call on his cellphone.

“Uh, hey, when you get this, Lois and I are heading to this bar on …”

“Seventh and Broadway,” she said, relaying the information to the cab driver at the same time. 

“Right. Seventh and Broadway.”

The cab ride was agonisingly slow. Even on Saturdays the traffic tended to be busy, but because it had snowed the day before, it was even worse. The sun was shining and some of the snow had started to melt already, making it slushy. 

By the time they did get to the bar, it was well past the time she’d estimated. Lois quickly alighted from the cab and went to the door. The bar appeared to be closed, which was unusual for the time of day. 

Frowning she tried to peer in, then looked desperately at AC. “We’re too late!” she said.

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that,” a voice drawled. “I’d say you’re right on time.”

Lois whirled, staring in horror at the man of her nightmares. 

“Trax!”AC immediately stepped in front of her. He was clearly determined to defend her. Just how she had no idea. 

The two men glared at each other. She backed away as Trax pulled out a hunting knife. It didn’t look clean. She guessed it was more than likely the same knife he’d used to kill the other woman. 

AC blocked the killer’s attack, grabbing his wrist and using it as momentum to throw the other man down. Trax quickly got up again, launching another attack with what sounded like a feral growl. Again, Clark’s friend blocked but this time the knife-wielding killer head-butted him in the abdomen. 

For some reason, AC looked surprised at the other man’s strength as the fight continued. Every attempt he made to get the knife away from the killer just appeared to enrage Trax. 

She hated feeling helpless. She had never considered herself a damsel-in-distress. When she had been a kid, she had enrolled in martial arts lessons and had got as far as getting her brown belt in Taekwondo. 

The general had once yelled at her because she’d come home crying after a bully at school had taken her lunch. Her father had always made her get her lunches from the mess and army chefs didn’t exactly cater for eight-year-old girls. The bully had looked at her lunch, made a face, and then thrown it back at her. 

Her father had told her to buck up and act like a soldier. She’d been too young then to tell him she wasn’t a soldier. She was just a little girl who needed the comfort of a parent. He hadn’t said it in so many words, but to him crying was a weakness. As far as she knew, he had never cried over losing her mother. 

She’d gone back to school the next day with yet another brown bag lunch. When the bully had again tried to tease her, she had silenced him with a hard punch to the mouth. An action which had resulted in a suspension.

Nevertheless, she had learned a valuable lesson. Face the bullies head on. 

She tried to tell herself that Trax was different and that was why her initial feeling had been fear. True, he was not the average, run-of-the-mill sociopath she was used to dealing with, like the Prankster. Then again, Kyle Griffin was smart. Trax had never even graduated high school. He’d started out as a five-year-old pulling wings off of flies. Then he’d moved on to torturing domestic animals. He’d been sent to Juvenile Hall as a ten-year-old for setting a cat on fire and watching as it burned to death. 

She hadn’t wanted to admit to Clark the night before just how scared she was. He obviously knew anyway, especially after the nightmare she’d had. It had been intense. Trax had been chasing her in the dream. She’d suddenly found herself unable to run and he’d been getting closer and closer. The moment he’d put his hand on her was the moment she’d woken up to find Clark in her room.

She heard the sound of glass breaking and looked up to see AC being thrown through a window of the bar. He yelped in pain. 

Trax sneered at her. She stared back at him, one part of her wanting to flee, but the other part angry enough over the way he had hurt Clark’s friend to fight the man. She knew she couldn’t leave AC at this man’s mercy and steeled herself to fight for her life.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark does some investigating

Clark had spent a little time patrolling the streets, trying to find some trace of the man before he’d gone to visit Kansas State Penitentiary. The warden appeared surprised at his visit.

“Warden, I know this is unusual, but I would like to see Trax’s records.”

“Uh, I’m afraid that isn’t possible, Superman. Mr Trax was released into the care of LexCorp six months ago. In return for early release from his prison sentence, he agreed to take part in a study. All his records were turned over to the state.”

Clark frowned at the woman. “What study?”

“I don’t really know the details,” she said. “Trax’s lawyer arranged it all.”

“Are you aware that Trax is now a suspect in the death of a young woman last night? And that he may also be targeting a reporter?”

“Lois Lane,” she said, nodding. From her expression, he could see she knew something. 

“Warden Stone, please, if there is something you know about Trax, or about Miss Lane …”

“He collected her articles. He told his cellmate he was a fan, but one of the guards overheard him say when he got out he was going to see Miss Lane. I’m sorry, Superman, that is all I can tell you. Perhaps you’d best take it up with Mr Luthor.”

Clark was annoyed at the woman’s attitude but couldn’t say anything. He flew back to the city and entered Watchtower through the huge round window. Bruce stood at the console.

The Gotham billionaire had been a friend of the family since before his parents had been killed. Robert had once worked with Thomas Wayne on a project and the two men had been firm friends. Enough for Thomas to have appointed Robert an administrator of Wayne Enterprises in the event of his death.

Bruce had joined the Justice League a few months earlier. He had initially been reluctant, expressing the wish to work solo, but Clark had pointed out to him the League members could be of help when needed.

“Bruce.”

“I heard what happened. I’ve already looked into this guy Trax. He’s a real piece of work.”

“Yeah, I know. Are you able to get the records of his release from prison six months ago?” He told the other man what the warden had told him. 

“Give me a sec,” he said, typing on the keyboard. Clark saw various lines of code and figured the other man was accessing government records through a back door. 

While he was fast on the computer, Clark wasn’t quite as good as Chloe, or Bruce, at hacking into some systems. Especially those with about a dozen or more firewalls and encrypted files. 

“By the way,” the Gotham billionaire said as he worked, his eyes on the monitor in front of him. “Chloe called. She wants an update.”

He nodded. “I asked AC to stay with Lois at my place. I told her to stay put.”

The other man turned and looked at him. “You really think she’s just going to do exactly what you say?”

That was what he was afraid of. Lois might be feeling very vulnerable right now, but he knew sooner or later she wouldn’t be able to resist chasing the story. The one thing he did admire about her was her tenacity, and her ability to bury her fears. The problem was she was more than likely to put herself in harm’s way, against her better judgement.

He decided to call AC and grabbed his phone from the locker room. Watchtower had been equipped with showers and lockers which could only be accessed using retinal scans and thumbprints. Clark kept a spare suit at Watchtower in case something happened to his usual one. 

As he switched on his phone, he saw he had a message from AC.

“Uh, hey, when you get this, Lois and I are heading to this bar on …”

He heard Lois’s voice and traffic noise.

“Seventh and Broadway.” 

“Right. Seventh and Broadway.”

The message had been left less than twenty minutes earlier. Clark left the locker room. Bruce looked at him.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Lois has gone with AC to some bar.”

The other man shrugged. “Told you she wouldn’t stay put.”

“Yeah, I know. Can you keep working?”

“I’ll be here.”

Clark flew off, quickly locating the bar a few blocks from the Daily Planet. He arrived just in time to see Lois being tossed through a broken window, landing on top of AC, who had been struggling to his feet. 

A skinny man with tattoos all over his face was stepping through the broken window, a knife in his hand. Clark landed. Immediately he was assailed by a dizzying sensation, his stomach roiling with nausea. Kryptonite. Well, he knew what that so-called study entailed. 

Trax sneered at him but didn’t say anything. He attacked without warning. Clark quickly dodged the attack and countered at super speed, punching the man hard in the chest. It just seemed to enrage his opponent rather than knock the wind out of him. 

AC had managed to get up. He had a few bleeding wounds on his face and arms but appeared otherwise okay. Clark nodded at his friend, who attacked Trax from behind. The killer tossed him over his shoulder before turning, completely ignoring Clark to return his attention to Lois. Clark could see she was unconscious on the floor of the bar. 

“Is that it?” he taunted. “That all you got?”

Trax waved his hand as if he couldn’t care less. Clark quickly got in between the man and his intended victim, quickly noting a man’s body on the floor behind the bar, lying in a pool of blood. Again he attacked, this time punching hard enough to send the killer flying. 

He realised police must have been called as J’onn turned up in an unmarked car. He called out to Trax. 

“Metropolis PD! You are under arrest!”

Trax didn’t even look at the Martian Manhunter, clearly preparing to launch another attack. He picked up the knife from the floor and brandished it, swapping from one hand to the other with a feral grin. 

“Drop the knife, Trax!” J’onn called out. His partner had also got out of the car and was aiming at him. 

Clark was about to call out, telling the men to let him handle it, but the other man fired as Trax attacked once more. The killer went down, blood spreading through his long-sleeved shirt. 

J’onn sent him an apologetic look, but he shook his head, immediately going to Lois’ side. She had several contusions and a shard of glass was sticking out of her side. The Manhunter entered the bar. 

“Batman called me in,” he said. “I am sorry …” he began, glancing at the fallen Trax.

Clark shook his head again. “We’ll talk about this later. I need to get her to the hospital.” He turned to AC who was holding one hand to his head. Blood was seeping out through his fingers. “Get AC to Met Gen and get Emil Hamilton to check him out.”

J’onn nodded. “Of course.”

He picked Lois up gently and flew with her in his arms to Metropolis General Hospital. The staff there were used to his comings and goings and didn’t protest as he called for help.  
An orderly brought a gurney. Clark recognised him from an earlier incident.

“Again? Didn’t you drop her off here just a couple of months ago with concussion?”

“Except this time I believe it is more serious,” he said. “Take care of her.”

He left her in the capable hands of the orderly, knowing if he stuck around, people were more likely to think he had a special relationship with her. 

He returned to Watchtower. Bruce turned to look at him. 

“What happened?” he asked. “I figured when you didn’t call in …”

Clark nodded, grateful for Bruce’s quick instincts.

“He was at the bar and he was about to kill her. There was something else. He had Kryptonite.”

“He had Kryptonite? You mean, on his person?”

“I don’t know. I x-rayed him before I landed, just to make sure he didn’t have any hidden weapons, and I didn’t see any meteor rock.”

“Hmm, it’s possible this study he took part in involved an injection of Kryptonite,” Bruce said, turning back to the computer. “The warden was right. It was some kind of study in LexCorp. It looks like one of those projects that was designed to make Lex look good.”

“How so?”

“The experiments were on prisoners. Those with violent criminal histories, like Trax. Some kind of behavioural modification. From the report I managed to get before LexCorp systems shut me down, it looked like they were trying to treat the violent tendencies. Trax was definitely a part of the project. The records state he agreed to be a guinea pig.”

“Probably so he could get out of prison earlier,” Clark said. 

Bruce nodded. “Yeah, probably. Anyway, I looked up the psychiatrist working on the project. She had this theory that some of this behaviour was caused by chemical imbalances. She claimed Trax was a test case.”

“I think I need to go pay a visit to Lex.”

“What about Lois?”

“I took her to Met Gen. AC should be on the way there by now. Send a text to Emil and let him know and tell him to call me when I can see Lois.”

His friend looked him over. “You okay?” he asked. Clark ran a hand through his hair, mussing it a little.

“Honestly? No. I’m worried about her. I should have known she could never stay put.”

“Hey, don’t blame yourself.”

“I shouldn’t have left her with AC. Now he’s hurt and she was almost killed.”

“This is not your fault. AC was perfectly capable of saying no to her, so don’t beat yourself up.” He peered closer at him. “Unless there’s something else you’re not telling me?”

“Like?”

“Like maybe your feelings for Lois run deeper than you’re letting on.”

“Okay, okay, yes I have feelings for her. Happy now?”

Bruce chuckled. “You are a stubborn one, Kal. Sure you want to take on someone like Lois? I hear she’s quite a handful.”

Clark glowered at his friend. “Says the man who has a cat burglar for a girlfriend.”

The other man raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. “I’m not even going to go there.”

He left Watchtower and flew to Luthor Plaza. Lex had a penthouse on the top floor. As luck would have it, the bald man was just finishing his lunch in the salon. He saw Clark land on the terrace. 

“Superman. To what do I owe the honour of this visit?”

“Lois Lane was almost killed today,” he said. “By someone who, according to LexCorp records, was part of a behavioural therapy study.”

“Hmm, I wondered who was trying to hack into my files. My security team alerted me to the attempts an hour ago.”

“Mr Luthor …”

“Before you accuse me of anything, yes, the man known as Trax did agree to the study. It was an intensive program taking place over the course of a year. Unfortunately, Trax escaped the facility a week ago. The psychiatrist I engaged for the program told me she believed he was only going through the motions.”

Clark wanted to ask him if they were using meteor rock in the drugs used to treat the participants but decided it was best to remain silent on the matter.

“I hope Miss Lane will be okay,” Lex said. “Despite our occasional clashes, I find her to be a rather interesting woman.”

“I see,” he replied. 

“What happened to Trax, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“He’s dead. He was shot by police.”

Lex nodded. “Good. In my opinion, there was only one way it could end. Please give Miss Lane my regards when you see her.”

Clark left the penthouse, wondering why Lex had been so forthcoming. Perhaps as Bruce had suggested, it was a project designed to make LexCorp look good, at least on paper, countering the negative press. He had to admit the idea had merit, but doubted it would be all that successful.

He returned to Watchtower. J’onn was waiting for him.

“Kal-El. I know it is of little comfort, but …”

“I think Trax may have been meteor-infected,” he said. 

As much as he preached to his fellow Justice Leaguers that killing was a last resort, he wondered if there was ever going to be an alternative where the man was concerned. 

“You are certain of this?”

Bruce spoke up. “It looks like he was involved in a LexCorp project. They may have used meteor rock in some drug they were giving the participants.”

“I see. Have you talked to Mr Luthor?”

Clark nodded, relating what Lex had told him. AC came in as he finished explaining. The other man didn't appear to have been that badly hurt, which was a relief.

“Dude, that guy was psycho, man,” his friend said.

He nodded. “Yeah. Uh, listen, I’m sorry that Lois talked you into leaving the apartment. And that you got hurt because of it.”

The blond man shrugged. “Kinda goes with the territory. Lois is cool.”

“Nevertheless, I’m sorry. That shouldn’t have happened.”

Bruce coughed. “Uh, sorry Kal. I just got a message from Oliver. Chloe found out Lois was hurt. Her water broke. She’s gone into labour.”

Oh great, Clark thought with a heavy sigh. As if things weren’t bad enough already.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois recovers

Lois’ head was pounding and she could feel a sharp ache in her abdomen, far worse than when she had had her appendix out at age nine. She tried to sit up, only to groan and fall back against the pillows.

“Lois?”

Frowning, she turned her head to look at the figure in the doorway.

“Clark.”

He stepped forward and sat on the bed. “The doctor says you’re going to be fine.”

“Yeah? I feel like I went eight rounds with Mike Tyson.”

He nodded, his big hand covering hers. Her first instinct was to pull back, but she ignored it. His hand felt warm where she felt so cold. 

“What, uh …” Her voice was husky. She cleared her throat and tried again. “What happened?”

“Well, Superman apparently showed up right when that guy Trax was about to kill you. The police turned up not long after and shot him.”

“Who? Superman?” 

“No. Trax. He’s dead, by the way.”

“Oh. Good.”

Clark ducked his head. She had the feeling he didn’t exactly agree with the way the police had handled it, but was resigned to it. 

She looked down at her hand. Clark was rubbing her skin gently with his thumb. He appeared thoughtful, as if there was something he wanted to say but was not sure about it. 

There were so many things she wanted to say to him. Confronting someone like Trax, coming so close to being killed, had made her realise that her life could be cut short in an instant. She’d wasted so much time avoiding her feelings for Clark, reasoning that a relationship between them could never work. She was too impulsive, too hot-tempered. Not to mention the fact that he was her boss. Maybe not her direct boss, but it could still create so many problems for them.

Then there was the fact that she had a tendency to blur the lines between them. He’d had every right to get annoyed with the way she just seemed to walk all over him. 

“I bet I can guess what you’re thinking,” Clark said. 

“I bet you can’t.”

He smiled. “You’re trying to give yourself an out. Creating all these excuses as to why it couldn’t possibly work between us.”

“That’s not exactly what I was thinking,” she said. “Besides, what about Tess?”

“Tess is no longer in the picture. You were seeing Jack.”

She frowned at him. “How did you know about that?”

“He’s practically family. By the way, Uncle Jonathan offered for you to stay with them for a while. If you wanted to.”

“Thanks, but I don’t even know them. I mean, I had dinner with them, once, but I …” She trailed off, not really knowing what to say. 

“It’s okay. I’m not going to push you into anything you don’t want to do.” He got up and went to the window, looking out over what she assumed was the hospital grounds. He stood there for a few moments before turning back to her.

“Lois, I don’t know what the future holds. Let’s face it, we’ve spent the last four months or so avoiding what we really feel. I only know that when I heard you’d been hurt yesterday, I couldn’t face the thought of losing you. I mean, don’t get me wrong. There are times when you drive me crazy. You’re brash, and you sometimes act without thinking, but … you accused me once of being uptight and maybe I am. Maybe I need someone like you to help me see that I don’t always have to be that way.” He sighed.

“I know I’m not perfect.”

She shook her head. “Maybe not, but … I … I guess even with you I had to put up all those walls because I … I got scared. The general used to tell me that he hated weakness and I always thought that if I let someone see that side of me then they would hurt me.”

“I never would,” he said. 

“I know.” She paused, sighing. “I don’t know what this is, but I guess what I’m trying to say is, if you think there is something worth exploring, then I’d like to explore it with you.”

He smiled and it was as if the room suddenly became brighter. Lois smiled back a little uncertainly. Clark started to approach the bed, but before he could do so, someone came into the room.

“Well, Miss Lane, I’m Dr Hamilton.” 

She frowned at the man with olive skin and wavy dark hair. She couldn’t recall having met him the day before but then again, she didn’t remember much of what had happened after Trax had thrown her through the glass pane. She had been told she had been unconscious for a while after Superman had brought her in and the rest of that time was a blur.

Dr Hamilton nodded at Clark. She wondered what that was about. She didn’t know much about body language but there was a sense of familiarity between them. She wanted to ask Clark about it, but didn’t get the opportunity as the doctor looked through her chart.

“Your vitals are good,” he was saying. “I think as long as you have someone to look after you, we can release you this afternoon.”

She bit her lip. Would Clark still want her to stay with him, even after they’d decided to explore this attraction they had? Not to mention the fact that she’d promised him she would stay put and she had broken that promise.

“Don’t worry. She’ll be staying with me.”

“I don’t want to put you to any trouble,” she said.

He shook his head. “It’s no trouble. Mom would insist on it anyway.”

It was still a couple of hours before she was released into Clark’s care. She was grateful for the support as he led her into the apartment. 

“Why don’t you rest on the couch for a bit?” he suggested. “If you’re hungry I can make you something to eat.”

She shook her head. “I’m not hungry. I could go for a coffee, though. The stuff they give you in the hospital is terrible.”

He smiled. “Well, I don’t think one coffee would hurt.” 

He left the room, but came back in a minute or so later, the phone in his hand.

“Mom’s on the phone for you.”

She frowned, but guessed he’d told his mother what had happened. She took the phone, wincing a little as she reached up. She’d cracked a couple of ribs in her fall. 

“Lois?”

“Yes, it’s me,” she said.

“How are you, sweetie?”

“I’m okay. I’ll heal, I guess.”

“Is my son taking good care of you?” Lois heard a slight edge to the woman’s voice, as if she was upset with Clark. 

“Yes, he is,” she said. “Did he do something?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, just now you sounded a little … are you mad at him?”

“Oh no, it’s just been a little stressful around here. Chloe went into labour after she heard you’d been hurt. She and Oliver are still at the hospital.”

“Oh. Clark didn’t tell me that.”

“He probably didn’t want to worry you. Don’t fret. Everything’s fine. She hasn’t had the baby yet, but that’s to be expected. Goodness knows, I was in labour with Oliver for almost two days!”

“Wow! That’s a long time,” Lois commented. She looked up as Clark came back in with her coffee. She smiled up at him and mouthed a thank you. 

“Isn’t it, though? He was a big baby too. Nine pounds! But you don’t want to hear about that. I just wanted to call and check up on you. We were so worried when we heard about that horrible man. I’m so glad you’re safe.” She paused. “I should let you get some rest, sweetheart. I doubt you got much sleep in the hospital.”

For some inexplicable reason, Lois felt like she wanted to cry. Hearing the concern in the older woman’s voice made her miss her mother, even though it had been twenty years since Ella Lane had died. She bit her lip, trying not to choke on the tears.

“Okay. Do you need to talk to Clark again?”

“No, darling. It’s all right. I’m sure I’ll be calling again in a few hours when the baby is finally here. You just get some rest now.”

Clark appeared to notice her getting emotional as he sat down beside her. She was glad she was able to keep the tears back waited until Moira had hung. She cried, barely aware of him putting his arms around her. It was a long time before she felt able to get things under control again.

“I’m sorry,” she said with a sigh. “I don’t normally …”

“No one will blame you for getting emotional,” he said gently. “After everything that’s happened, I’d be worried if you didn’t.”

“This is going to sound stupid, but … talking to your mom, it almost felt like my mom was here. You know?”

“That’s not stupid,” he told her, handing her a Kleenex so she could wipe her eyes. “I know when I’m feeling down or unwell, I wish my mom was right here.”

“I can’t imagine you really needing your mom. I mean, you seem so … um, together,” she said. She frowned. “That didn’t come out right.”

“I know what you meant. Believe me, I had my moments when I was growing up. Losing my dad and Ollie disappearing … that was a bad time in my life.”

“Chloe told me a little bit. What happened?”

He shrugged. “I got into some trouble at school, started acting out. Mom didn’t know what to do so she asked Uncle Jonathan to help. He got me straightened out.”

“It must have been hard, going through all that.”

She had the feeling it wasn’t the only thing Clark had gone through, but decided not to question him further. 

She decided to go up to the bedroom to rest for a while. When she came back downstairs, Clark was talking to Detective Jones. The dark-skinned man smiled at her.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Okay,” she replied. “Recovering.”

“Good. I was just telling Clark about the investigation into what happened with Trax.”

“What did happen?” she asked. “I’m still a little fuzzy on the details.”

“Well, it seems Trax was part of a study at LexCorp in behavioural modification. However, we think he only volunteered to join the study so he could get early release from his prison sentence.”

She nodded. “Yeah. It figures.”

“I’m sorry to tell you that the owner of the bar was killed.”

“TJ?” she said, getting upset all over again. Her friend had been murdered because of her. Trax must have really studied her.

The detective nodded. “I’m sorry. He was a friend of yours?”

“I’d known him for years. He was a friend of a friend.”

Clark’s housekeeper appeared from the hallway. Clark left the room with her. Lois continued talking to the detective, who related what had happened after Trax had nearly killed her. 

Clark returned looking a little perturbed. Lois was surprised to see Lex Luthor following him in. 

“Mr Luthor came to see you,” he said.

“Lois, I heard about what happened. I wanted to give you my deepest apologies. I know nothing I can say can make up for what Mr Trax did to you. I also wanted to give you my assurances that I am launching a full investigation into how he escaped from the facility.”

She nodded. “Thank you.”

He stepped forward, a smile of beneficence on his face, as if butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. 

“If there is anything I can do,” he said.

“I’ll be okay. Clark’s taking good care of me.”

Lex turned and smiled at Clark. “He’s good at that,” he said. “Even in his first day at Excelsior he was always taking care of others.” 

Lois hated the man’s tone. It sounded like he was making an effort not to be condescending but it still came off that way.

“I’ll be holding a press conference in the morning. I assume it is a long shot, but if you have a way to get in touch with Superman, I would very much appreciate his presence.”

Again she had that feeling Lex was speaking the words he thought they wanted to hear but his tone implied something else. 

“Why would Clark know how to get in touch with Superman?” she asked. “Usually he just shows up when he’s needed.”

“Yet isn’t it strange how the Daily Planet seems to manage to get exclusive interviews with him?” the bald man replied coolly. He nodded his head at her. “I’ll let you get some rest, Lois. Clark.”

“I’ll see you out, sir,” Mrs Adams told him.

Lois stared at Clark as Lex left the room, followed by the housekeeper.

“What was that all about?” she asked.

“I’ve no idea,” Clark returned.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois wants to attend the press conference.

Against Clark’s objections, Lois decided to attend the press conference at LexCorp. He had asked his friend Dinah Lance, also known as Black Canary, to go to Lois’ apartment and see what could be salvaged out of her belongings. Dinah had reported that Trax had done a real number on the apartment. He’d completely trashed everything, setting fire to her clothes and bedding and spraying obscenities in black paint on the walls. She would never get her deposit back from the landlord. 

Fortunately his assistant had anticipated that it would be a few days, if at all, before Lois could go home and had bought a few extra items. It was only jeans and blouses, but at least she would be comfortable, he thought. 

Since he didn’t technically have to be at the press conference, as himself, he decided to take the chance and trust Luthor wouldn’t have requested for him to be there as his alter ego without good reason. 

As he headed downstairs to check on something with Perry, he overheard one of the younger reporters talking with an intern in the break room. 

“I heard Lois was staying with the boss himself. I always wondered about their ‘special relationship’. You know, sometimes I think he just lets her …”

“Lets her what?” he asked.

The brown-haired first-year reporter stared at him, wide-eyed.

“Uh …”

“Go on, Mr Hage. Please do tell me more about what you think is going on between myself and Miss Lane.”

“Uh …”

“Uh isn’t good enough,” he snapped. “First of all, in case you were not aware, Lois was almost killed two days ago. She is staying at my apartment because her apartment is currently unliveable. As for her relationship with me, that is really none of your business, now is it? And for the record, I do not appreciate you spreading such rumours. I would tread very carefully, Mr Hage, or the only thing you will be writing is your resume. Is that clear?”

Jeff turned red with embarrassment. “Yes sir,” he said quietly. 

Clark turned to leave, startled to find Lois right behind him.

“Can we talk?” she asked quietly. 

“I thought you would be at the press conference by now,” he said.

“It’s just across the road and it doesn’t start for a half hour. I just … couldn’t help overhearing.”

“If you think I was being too harsh with him …”

“It’s not that. I … it’s about yesterday. I guess this really isn’t the right time or place for this.”

“I’ll be free in about an hour, I guess. How about I order in lunch?”

She nodded. “Yeah, that sounds … okay. See you later?” 

He watched her go before continuing to Perry’s office. The editor smiled at his entry.

“Hey, kid. Lois was just in here.”

“I figured,” he said quietly, sitting down on the leather chair.

“Everything okay?”

“I’m not sure. After the last couple of days, I …”

“Yeah, I know. It could have been a lot worse. We could have been going to Lois’ funeral.”

He didn’t really need the reminder and gave the editor a sour look. The older man shrugged and smiled. 

“Just thought you needed a bit of perspective. So how are the new parents doing?”

His brother had called an hour after Lex had left saying Chloe had had the baby. The proud father was just about crowing from the rooftops. They still hadn’t decided on a name but Oliver thought there was plenty of time for that. 

“Doing well, by all accounts. Mom told me this morning that Chloe should be released from the hospital tomorrow. They just wanted to make sure she was okay with the feeding and everything else.”

“How about you, kid? You doing okay?”

“How do you really want me to answer that?”

Perry snickered. “Hate to say it, Clark, but the answer’s written all over your face. You can try to hide it all you like, but this thing scared you more than you want to admit.”

“You’re right.”

“I’ve seen the way you two look at each other. Look, don’t get me wrong. I think you and Lois would be great together, but are you sure you wanna go down this road? You know how complicated it could get.”

“Perry, right now, I’m not sure of anything except how I feel about her. Almost losing her made me realise that I’ve been avoiding these feelings for so long if I don’t do something about it, I could lose her for good.”

He couldn’t explain it, even to himself. There was something about Lois that made him feel … well, maybe normal wasn’t quite the word he was looking for, he thought, but it was close. 

All his life, he’d felt that he didn’t really fit in. Despite having a big brother, despite having loving parents. They’d all tried their best but they really couldn’t possibly understand what it was like to be him. To be … different. They’d all had to deal with his abilities. When he was younger, it seemed like every time his body changed, a new ability would crop up. It had been hard enough for him to deal with. 

There had been times when he’d looked at his brother wondering if Oliver ever thought of him as a freak. 

Yet, inexplicably, the moment he’d met Lois Lane, he was able to forget all of that. She’d annoyed him, sure, but at the same time, she had treated him like everyone else. That was what had attracted him the most. 

He left Perry’s office and prepared to go to the press conference. It wasn’t the ordeal he had expected it to be. Lex appeared almost friendly, thanking Superman for his quick action. Clark was cynical enough to believe that the bald billionaire was doing it for the positive PR, but he was sure there was some other reason. He’d heard rumours the man was trying for political office again. He already had a failed bid for state senate. 

He returned to his office shortly before Lois was due to arrive. Amanda had already ordered lunch for them and left for her own break. 

Lois entered and hovered in the doorway, looking a little uncertain. 

“You can come in. I promise I won’t bite.”

Her smile was more of a grimace. “Sorry. Last time I was here, you yelled at me.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” He gestured toward the sandwiches on the desk. “I hope you’re hungry.”

“Um, not really.” She stepped forward. “I guess I could eat a little.”

“You need to keep your strength up,” he said gently. 

“I know.” She took a quarter of one sandwich and went to the window, picking at the bread as she looked out over the street. “I heard what Jeff said. About us.”

“Don’t worry about him,” he replied.

He watched her for a few moments. She was so quiet, almost uncertain. It was so uncharacteristic of her that he had no idea what to do. He was used to bickering with her.

“Clark, what do you want from us?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, where do you see this going?”

“Don’t you think it’s a little early to be even thinking about that?” he pointed out. “We haven’t even gone out on a date.”

“Actually, we have, or did you forget the night at the Ace of Clubs.”

“That wasn’t really a date,” he said. “Are you worried about what might happen?”

She shrugged. “Sort of. I mean, you’d barely started to go out with Tess and the gossip rags had you practically engaged. Are you … I mean, you did say Tess wasn’t an issue anymore.”

“She called it quits, but if she hadn’t, I would have. Maybe not quite as soon as that.”

“Oh.”

“Lois, what is really the problem here?”

“I don’t know,” she said with a heavy sigh. “I mean, I get that your life is … complicated. You can’t go out to a restaurant without being chased by a Paparazzi. I know that’s the price you pay for being … who you are. I just …. I kept thinking about it last night. Wondering if that was something I was prepared to deal with. I mean, last time, I was kind of taken by surprise when the Inquisitor published that story.”

Clark frowned, trying to figure out where she was going with this.

“Is this your way of saying you changed your mind?” he asked, feeling more than a little disappointed. 

She turned and looked at him, putting the sandwich down on the plate. She hadn’t eaten a thing.

“I don’t know. I’m just … really confused.”

“Well, maybe this will help unconfuse you,” he said. 

He wrapped his arms around her and pressed his lips to hers in a gentle, undemanding kiss. For a moment she didn’t respond, then one arm slid around his waist, her hand on his back, while the other found its way to behind his head. Her mouth opened under his, letting him in as she began to kiss him back with fervour. 

“Then what happened?”

Chloe gazed at her brother-in-law. She was tired and sore from the birth, but as much as she wanted to focus on letting her body heal, it looked like Clark needed some reassurance.

He sighed. “Well, then she stared at me and practically ran out the door.”

“Uh, yeah, Lois has always had what I like to call a tightly-wound bolt reflex. It’s not you, trust me on that.”

“So why did she?” Clark was holding a teddy bear he’d bought for the baby. He’d flown to Star City as soon as work ended for the day. From what Chloe could ascertain, he hadn’t seen Lois or heard whether she’d gone back to his apartment after he’d kissed her. 

“I think it has something to do with all those walls she puts up,” she told him. “That’s about as much insight as I can give you. The rest, well you’ll just have to ask her.”

Oliver entered the room, holding a bundle wrapped in a blue blanket.

“Look who wants to meet his Uncle Clark,” he crooned. 

Chloe grinned at her husband. Oliver had sworn he was not going to do the ‘baby talk’ but the moment his son had been born he just hadn’t been able to stop himself.

Clark took the bundle and dutifully admired his nephew.

“So, you guys decided what to name him yet?”

“We’re still debating between Jonas and something else,” Chloe said, glancing at her husband. Oliver shrugged.

“We were sort of leaning toward Conner,” he said.

Clark nodded, smiling for the first time since he’d appeared.

“Conner,” he said. “I like it.”

“His middle name could be Robert, after your dad.”

Oliver grinned. “Yeah, I think Dad would have loved that.”

“I think it’s perfect,” Moira said, coming into the room. She approached Clark to look down at her grandson. Clark handed him over without protest. “What do you think, sweetheart?” she crooned. 

The baby cooed softly as if he agreed with his grandmother. She rocked him gently, gazing at him adoringly.

Chloe watched her mother-in-law for a moment before turning back to Clark.

“So what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “I mean, yesterday, she said she wanted to explore whatever it is we’re feeling but now …”

“You have to give her a chance to sort out her feelings,” Chloe advised. “The last few days have been pretty overwhelming for her.”

“I suppose hearing Jeff saying something stupid didn’t help,” he said with a sigh. Chloe frowned at him and asked for details. When he told her, she felt like kicking Jeff’s ass. She didn’t know him that well, since he’d joined the Planet long after she’d left for Star City, but she’d heard Lois talking about him enough to know he was an idiot. 

“Chloe’s right, Clark,” his brother told him. “You just need to give her a little time.”

Clark still didn’t look that happy but nodded resignedly. He left shortly after, having done his duty in admiring his nephew.

Chloe nursed her son before handing him over to Oliver. She looked at her husband. “I could call her.”

“And say what, exactly? That she’s an idiot for walking out on him?”

She chewed on her lower lip, watching as he walked up and down, gently rocking their tiny son. 

“I guess you’re right.”

“I’m always right,” he returned with a grin.

“You wish.”

“I did tell you this might blow up in our faces. I said it months ago.”

“Oh ye of little faith,” she replied. “She’ll come around. You’ll see.”


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois thinks about Clark

Lois spent almost two hours walking around the city aimlessly before deciding to go to a movie to while away the rest of the afternoon. The movie was a romantic comedy and she almost immediately regretted it. The two lead characters had been best friends until their friendship turned into ‘with benefits’. 

She walked out of the movie theatre feeling even more depressed, only to see a couple walking together, their arms around each other. 

“Great,” she said to herself. Was the whole world suddenly conspiring against her, trying to show her just how much of an idiot she had been?

When Clark had kissed her, it had been … incredible. There was no other way to describe it. The kiss had been passionate and amazing and she had wanted so much more. Yet she couldn’t help thinking that this could change everything. Did she really want things to change between them?

“You know you do,” she told herself silently. She’d been jealous of Tess and she’d only been going through the motions with Jack. Sure, he was nice enough, but he wasn’t Clark and would never be. 

“Lois?”

She frowned, pushing the hair out of her eyes, blinking at the woman standing in front of her. 

“Um, Tess, isn’t it?”

The redhead nodded. “I heard about what happened. I’m glad to see you’re all right.”

She blinked. Was Tess actually being sympathetic?

“Are you?” she asked, blurting out her thoughts before she could stop herself.

“Contrary to rumour, I am not the total Pit Bull in Prada everyone thinks I am.”

Lois swallowed, wondering how the LexCorp VP had even known that was her nickname. 

“Are you going somewhere?” Tess asked, walking with her.

“Uh, I don’t know. I guess, um, Clark’s apartment.”

“Are you staying with him?”

“Well, right now, I don’t have anywhere else to go. My apartment was trashed. The landlord was not happy.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Is there no way to fix things?”

“I don’t know. I’m not sure I want to stay there now, anyway. I feel kind of … violated.”

The other woman nodded. “Yeah. That happened to me once. My apartment got broken into. It wasn’t trashed or anything but I could tell someone had been through my things.” She shuddered visibly. “It’s the thought of someone actually touching your underwear, and …”

Lois swallowed the bile that threatened to choke her. Her thoughts about what Trax had done hadn’t even gone that far. 

“I’m sorry,” Tess said, noticing her pallor. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

“You were trying to relate,” Lois replied. 

“Yeah.” She stopped walking and reached out. “Lois, I am not the ogre everyone thinks I am. I mean, I may work for Lex, but I don’t exactly trust him.”

“Why do you stay?”

Tess shrugged. “For a while I thought maybe, you know, Clark. He’s a great guy, Lois.”

“You like him.”

“I do. But he was not into me as much as I was into him.”

Lois frowned at her, trying to make sense of what the other woman was saying. “Are you telling me you were only sticking around for Clark? Why? I mean, you’re a VP.”

“I learned a few things. When I first took the job, I really thought Lex believed in the same things I did. He took me under his wing, taught me a few things, but then I found out who he truly is. I’m not trying to justify myself. I let myself be manipulated by someone who is a master at it.” She began walking again. Lois followed her.

“When Lex found out I was dating Clark, he tried to get me to spy for him. Tell him what Queen Industries was working on.”

Her eyes widened as she stared at the redhead. “You …”

“Clark was always careful. I don’t think he ever really trusted me.”

“If that’s the case, why did he even go out with you?” she asked.

Tess looked at her. “Because the person he did want didn’t seem to be interested.” The expression on her face told Lois everything she wanted to know. The other woman was talking about her. “I don’t know why he could never let that go, Lois, but I’m telling you now. Don’t screw this up. Maybe what happened to you might be just the opening you both needed.”

“Why are you so interested in me and Clark?”

“Because believe it or not, I really do care about his happiness. Don’t get me wrong. I’m jealous as all hell of you. But I know he would never forgive me.”

“I’m sorry,” Lois began. 

“For what? You can’t choose who you fall for, Lois. Well, mostly. Sometimes it is just a matter of chemistry. Sometimes no matter how hard you try, you can’t fight it.” She stopped walking and looked up. “Here we are.”

“What will you do now?” Lois asked.

She sighed. “I don’t know. I got head-hunted by this company in Miami. I might just go down to Florida, see what they have to offer.” She gazed at Lois for a few moments. “Remember what I said. Don’t screw this up. Make him happy.”

Lois watched her walk away before entering the clock-tower building. The elevator usually seemed to take forever to ascend to the penthouse apartment but just when she wanted it to go slow, it arrived at the top floor all too soon.

The first thing she saw when the door opened was a shirtless Clark. He must have been working out, she reasoned. He stared at her, seemingly unaware he was half-naked. 

He stood silently, clearly waiting for her to say something.

“Hi,” she said. He remained silent. She fidgeted. “Uh, I, um, I’ve been spending most of the afternoon just, you know … I know how it looked when I just …”

“Do you?” he asked quietly.

She stepped forward. “Clark, I know I ran out, but I just need you to understand why. I know you’re upset, but I … I got scared, okay? I mean, it’s not just about what Jeff said. Or any of that. I just … things have been so muddled, I don’t know if I’m coming or going.” She was babbling. She knew she was babbling and Clark was trying to say something.

“Lois …”

She looked at him. “Shut up?” she said. He nodded, amusement in his eyes. “Right. Shut up.”

“I know you got scared,” he said. “None of that matters. What does matter is that you’re here now.”

“You’re not mad?” she asked.

“Should I be? I have to admit I was confused when you practically sprinted out the door, but then I talked to Chloe and she made me realise that you needed time to process what had happened to you.”

Chloe. She had totally forgotten to call her cousin and see how she was. 

“I should call her.”

“Oliver said she should be released from the hospital tomorrow.” He gently advised she should give her cousin time to rest from the birth. Lois imagined she would be pretty sore.

“How’s the baby?” she asked.

“Good. They named him Conner Robert.”

Lois smiled. “Conner. That’s nice. It’s a good name.”

“Yeah, I like it too,” Clark said with a smile. “So, uh, maybe we should sit down and have a talk. Mrs Adams has gone for the day and I didn’t know if you would come back, so she didn’t cook anything. I could make something, or order something in.”

She thought about it for a few seconds. “It’s New Year’s Eve!” she said. 

Clark frowned at her, then nodded. “You’re right. It is. The restaurants will be busy.” He picked up a shirt from where it had been apparently tossed over the chaise lounge before going to the kitchen. Lois followed him, watching as he opened the refrigerator. 

“Hmm, I have some steaks here.” He picked up a brown paper bag and opened it. “Mushrooms. I bet I could make a mushroom sauce.” He looked at her. “Do you like mushrooms?”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

“I used to date this girl who hated vegetables. Like wouldn’t even touch them. She used to try to make a joke out of it but she told me once it was kind of embarrassing.”  
“Why?”

“Well, we’d go out to restaurants and she’d always have to ask the server not to give her any vegies as a side dish. Plus she didn’t have a big appetite. She used to look at my plate and just about have an anxiety attack.”

Lois stared at him. “Why would that worry her?”

He grinned. “I tend to eat about three times as much as anyone else. Even Ollie. My parents used to tease me about it. My dad used to say it was lucky we were rich or else I’d eat them out of house and home.”

She smiled back at him. “Your dad sounds like he was a great guy.”

“He was. I still miss him. When I was a kid, when he had business in Metropolis, he would always pick me up from school and we’d play hooky for the day. Go to a football game with Uncle Jonathan and Jack. It was great.”

She envied him his family life. If her mother had still been alive, she could bet things would have been a lot better between her and her father.

She watched as Clark put the steaks on and began to make the sauce. He did some more digging in his cupboards and found potatoes, putting them in the oven to bake. 

“Do you want some wine?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I shouldn’t drink,” she said sensibly. “I’m taking those painkillers for my ribs.”

“Right. How are they feeling, by the way?”

She’d not really given it much thought. The nurse had told her they couldn’t tape them up as it would risk pneumonia so she’d only been taking painkillers every few hours. The medication had taken the edge off the pain, but she had been brought up knowing that complaints just go ignored.

“They’re okay,” she said.

“You don’t have to pretend,” he told her. “If it’s bad, then say so.”

“Really, I’ve had a lot worse. I broke my arm in two places when I was ten. My Uncle Gabe built a treehouse for me and Chloe and I fell out.” She grinned. “Uncle Gabe was about as good a treehouse builder as he is a housekeeper. Which is not at all.”

Clark chuckled. “Yeah, Chloe said something about her dad’s cooking ability, or lack thereof.”

She leaned on the counter, the aroma of mushrooms and sizzling steak reminding her that she had barely eaten all day. They continued to chat back and forth as Clark cooked the meal. When the steaks were nearly done he began chopping up vegetables for a salad.

“What was it like? Growing up in Star City?”

“I guess you could say we were just like any other family. My dad told me once that when he was a kid, his dad was always working on some business deal and never made time for his children. Dad didn’t want that with us. He made sure we always knew that we were more important than the business. He also used to say that just because we were better off than most people, it didn’t give us the excuse to act like spoiled brats.”

She smiled at him. “I can’t imagine that,” she said. “You acting like that.”

“Oh, trust me, we both got into our fair share of trouble.”

“Was he strict? Your dad?”

“Sometimes, but even when he punished us, he hated it. Mom too. Then again, Mom would just give us this look and we’d know we were in trouble.”

She laughed. “Yeah, my mom was the same. I think there’s some kind of patent for that now.”

Clark turned back to his cooking as the stove beeped, letting him know the potatoes were done. He grabbed a towel and pulled the foil-wrapped potatoes out of the oven, leaving them on the counter while he took the frying pan from the stove and turned off the heat. 

After a few minutes, he served the food, taking the plates to the table.

“Mom thinks I can’t look after myself. That’s why I have a housekeeper.”

“Yeah, moms are like that,” she agreed. “This looks great,” she added, eyeing it hungrily. 

They ate dinner, continuing to chat about anything but what had happened that day. Lois enjoyed every morsel, clearing her plate with a slice of bread which the housekeeper had obviously baked fresh. 

As Clark gathered the dishes to clean up, she got up to stop him.

“I can do that,” she said. “You cooked.”

“What about your ribs?” he asked.

“They’re fine. I think I can handle loading a dishwasher.”

“All right. I’ll just go and look over some papers Ollie sent me for next week’s board meeting. If you need me …”

She nodded, watching him leave the room. She set to cleaning up the kitchen, rinsing the plates and bending to load the dishwasher. Lois quickly realised she wasn’t as capable as she’d thought, the movement causing searing pain to rip through her chest. 

She hadn’t even realised she’d cried out as she felt strong arms around her. She was barely aware of him lifting her in his arms and carrying her out of the kitchen. The next thing she knew she was on the couch.

“How long is it since you took the meds?” Clark was asking.

“Um, I don’t know,” she said truthfully. She remembered taking the painkiller before going to the cinema but hadn’t taken any since then. It was at least four hours. “I guess I’m due for another,” she added.

“Don’t move. I’ll get them,” he said. 

He left her side then returned a minute later with a couple of pills and a glass of water. She took them gratefully. 

“I’m all right,” she assured him. “I probably just twisted the wrong way.”

“I’ll finish the kitchen,” he told her. “You need to rest.”

She tried for a glare at him. “Has anyone ever told you you can be bossy?”

“Well, technically, I am your boss,” he replied. 

Lois rolled her eyes.


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark has to get his own back a little.

Clark had come home and gone upstairs to shower after leaving Star City. He’d just finished his shower and was drying off when he heard the elevator. He grabbed a shirt and donned a pair of pants, going down the stairs. He supposed he could have used superspeed to dress but he remembered the last time Lois had seen him without a shirt. Maybe it was a little mean, but given the way she had walked out on him earlier, he couldn’t help getting his own back on her in a small way. 

Then she’d started to babble, a sure sign she was nervous, and he’d relented, realising she was more than unsettled. 

He had to admit that when she did manage to relax, she could actually be a good conversationalist. Unlike Tess, who was clearly a woman with almost genius intelligence, Lois spoke with passion. The other woman was often guarded in how she acted and what she said. Clark had felt as if Tess had studied him and spoke about things he was interested in not because she shared that interest, but so she could make him believe she did. 

When he returned from cleaning the kitchen, Lois was sitting almost stiffly on the couch. He wondered if she was doing so to try to ease the pain of her cracked ribs or if she was feeling a little tense. 

“Lois,” he said quietly. 

She turned her head and looked at him. “Sorry, what?”

He sat down on the opposite couch. “We should talk about today.”

“Clark …”

“No, Lois. Look, I’m not upset with you. I realise the past few days have been overwhelming and maybe I shouldn’t have kissed you when I did.”

She shook her head. “It’s not that. The thing is, I … it was overwhelming, but not because of what happened. I mean, it’s part of it, but … I got scared.”

She’d already said that, but he let her go on. 

“I’ve had these … feelings for a while. I mean, they kind of snuck up on me, you know? I’ve been … I’ve dated guys before, but none of them ever made me feel so …” She gestured with her hands as if she didn’t really know how to describe the feeling. “I’ve made so many mistakes with men. I don’t want to make that mistake with you.”

He nodded. “Tell me something. Why did you come to me when Trax threatened you?”

“I never even thought about it, really. It just felt … right. Like I said. I felt I would be safe with you.”

It spoke volumes. They’d had their ups and downs in their friendship but the fact was she trusted him more than she trusted anyone else and that said it all. 

She studied him for a moment. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Your mom said something a few months ago. I guess that’s why I tried to get you to go out on dates.”

“What was it?” he asked.

“She said you had trouble with women. Is that true?”

He shrugged. “Partly. Yeah.”

“Is it because of Lana?”

“Oh, right. I forgot you met Lana at Hallowe’en.”

“I didn’t like her,” she said. 

He smiled. “Yeah, you and my mom.”

“So, what happened?”

Clark sighed. “I met her when I was twelve. I thought she was pretty, but she didn’t want anything to do with me. Then a few days later she told me she’d changed her mind. Oliver was convinced she only went out with me because her aunt told her to. Anyway, we dated for a few years but I found out she was in love with someone else.”

“She cheated on you?”

“Technically, I guess. When I caught her with him, she begged me to forgive her. Told me she never wanted to hurt me.”

He had been hurt, though. Hurt so badly he’d thought his heart would break. His mother had tried to console him. As had his brother. He’d ended up finding some red K and using it to go out clubbing. He’d bumped into some of his friends from school and a girl they all knew. He’d gone out with her for a few weeks then had decided to sleep with her, but it had been a complete disaster.

“I shouldn’t be surprised you’re so touchy about women,” Lois said. 

“I guess. What about you?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I mean, I’ve gone out with a few guys but …” She bit her lip. “None of them hold a candle to you.”

“Well, thank you.”

“Don’t let it go to your head, Queen. I wouldn’t want it to get so swollen you won’t fit through the door.”

“Which one?”

She rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe you just said that.”

He laughed. “What can I say? I get a kick out of yanking your chain.”

She shifted forward on the couch. Clearly the painkillers had started to work as she wasn’t moving as stiffly as he had noticed her doing earlier.

“You are a very bad man, Clark Queen.”

“Am I?” he asked in amusement. “What are you going to do about it?”

Her eyes twinkled with merriment. “Tell you what I’m going to do.” She got up with a little effort and came over, holding out her hand so he could pull her down to his lap. He supported her with a hand at her waist as she leaned forward and captured his lips with hers. 

It was every bit as good as the kiss they’d shared earlier, only this time there was no hesitancy on her part. She was a great kisser. Fiery and passionate. If she wasn’t still hurting from her injuries he would have wanted to take things further. 

His hand accidentally brushed her ribcage and she pulled away.

“Sorry,” he said.

She ducked her head. “Um, no. You didn’t hurt me. I just thought you were, you know, copping a feel.”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “Copping a feel?”

“Well, yeah. I mean, just because you’re my boss and everything doesn’t mean you can take advantage. I don’t put out on the first date. Not that we’ve actually had a date. It takes way more than you cooking dinner, amazing though it was.”

“You are a handful, Lois Lane.”

She chuckled. 

Clark wondered what had happened to change her mind after running out earlier. She had obviously had a lot of time to think about things. 

They sat together, talking. Normally he would be on duty at Watchtower, or out patrolling, but Bruce, who had been deputised to command the League when he wasn’t there, had suggested he take a couple of days off just to make sure Lois was on the road to recovery. 

He asked her about her afternoon. 

“I walked around, went to a movie, but I just couldn’t stop thinking about us. I’m sorry I ran out,” she said.

“So, what changed your mind?” he asked.

“Actually, I ran into Tess. Not literally, but … She told me not to blow it between us. She also said something about Lex trying to get her to spy for him. On you. Well, your family’s company.”

He nodded. “I thought there was something else she wasn’t telling me.”

“She told me she really liked you, but you weren’t as into her as she was into you.”

He grimaced. He was sorry things had worked out the way they had. If he hadn’t been so attracted to Lois, he might have given things a chance with Tess. Even if he hadn’t completely trusted her. 

That was probably the major difference between her and Lois. The few conversations he’d had with Lois as Superman told him that she understood his need to protect his identity. He had never been assured of the same with Lex’s half-sister. 

“You know, she actually seemed like a nice person. I always thought she was kind of hard, you know? But I guess around Lex you kind of have to be. Like it’s what he expects.”  
She yawned suddenly. “Sorry. I guess everything’s just catching up with me.”

He kissed her cheek. “Why don’t you go up to bed? Get some sleep.”

“Yeah.” She rose. He stood up with her, hesitating as she walked away to head up the spiral staircase. She paused at the bottom and looked at him for a long moment. 

He crossed the floor and caught her in his arms, kissing her passionately. She kissed him back, sighing softly as they parted, chuckling a little.

“You drive me crazy,” she said. 

He watched her walk up the stairs, debating whether to follow her. For the first time in a very long time, he wished he could just forget who and what he was and follow his instincts. 

He went into his study, closing the door softly, and dialled a number. 

“Hello sweetheart.”

“Hi Mom. I really need to talk to you.”

“About Lois?”

“Yeah.”

“So she came back?”

He nodded, forgetting for a second that she couldn’t see him. “You and Chloe were right. She was just overwhelmed with everything that had happened. We talked it out, and …”

“And what?”

“Mom, how did you know Dad was the one?”

“Ooh, that is a very long story.”

“Tell me. I really want to know.”

“Well, hmm, I should start from the beginning, I suppose. I met your father at a charity ball. Of course, you know, your father’s father was a successful athlete and my father was a successful businessman.” As was Robert’s father, Clark remembered. "Your dad was more interested in his sports than in working for his father," his mother added.

“We were so young,” she said with a sigh. “Barely out of our teens. Your father was campaigning to go to the Olympics to compete on the archery team. He was so handsome and all the girls in my social group couldn’t stop looking at him.” She chuckled. “They were such silly girls but he never even noticed them. He kept trying to talk to me all night.”

“He did?”

“Oh yes. Of course, I would never have considered going out with an athlete of all people. Still, he persisted. He called me every day for the next two weeks until I finally relented and went out with him. We knew even on that first date.”

“But how did you know about him then?” he asked, a little confused. If she had been so adamant about refusing to go out with him, how could she have known he’d be the one on the first date.

“We talked all night. He could make me laugh, but not only that, he could make me feel good about myself. Believe you me, I was not very confident when I was young. I was so shy. That never worried your father.” She paused. “Then he went away to the Olympics and I missed him so terribly. He came back with a gold medal and I was so very proud of him. When he proposed, I didn’t hesitate.”

She was quiet for a moment. “How does Lois make you feel?” she asked finally.

“Normal.” He paused. “I know that sounds crazy, but it’s true. I feel like I can be just a normal guy around her. She doesn’t care about the money, or anything. I … I think she’s the one, Mom.” 

His mother laughed softly. “Oh sweetheart, I knew the moment you two met that night at the Ace of Clubs.”

“How did you know, Mom? I didn’t even know.”

“Because of the way you talked about her.”

He remembered. She had basically insulted him, called him a geek, and he’d immediately responded with something equally snarky. He smiled, now understanding what his mother meant. 

There was only one problem. How could he tell her he was Superman? He’d decided a long time ago never to tell anyone outside the family his secret. As he’d once explained to Lois, if his enemies learned who was close to him and decided to hurt them, he couldn’t live with himself.

His mother was quiet as he asked that all-important question.

“Clark, honey, if you are considering being with Lois, then she needs to know the truth. Firstly, she deserves to know what she is getting into and she has the right to decide whether that is something she can handle. Although, given what has happened over the past few days, I think she can. She is a very strong young lady. I don’t know if I could have handled what she did with such fortitude.”

“What if she doesn’t accept me?”

“Well, sweetheart, that is a risk you have to take. I know that isn’t much comfort, my darling, but isn’t it better that she know now, before you both get too deeply involved? Besides, what gives you reason to believe she won’t?”

“I’m wondering if it will be too much for her.”

“And you already know what I think about that. Clark, I am your mother and while you may think I know everything, the truth is, I don’t. There were times when you were growing up I wished desperately for some sign, something to give me guidance on how to help you. The thing is, and this has nothing to do with your abilities, darling, every parent wonders if they are doing the right thing by their children. No matter how many books they read on parenting.”

It left him with much to think about. He didn’t sleep much that night, thinking over every possibility in his mind. Would Lois accept him as Superman or would she reject him? He suddenly wished he had J’onn’s mind-reading abilities. Or Zatanna’s magical abilities. Maybe then he would be able to predict Lois’ reaction to learning his secret.


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois checks out her apartment.

Lois stared in horror. The walls of her, now former, apartment were covered in spray-painted obscenities. Trax had left nothing bare. He had obviously spent quite some time in the apartment, destroying almost everything in his wake.

When her insurance company had asked for a list of items that needed replacing, she’d insisted she go check out the apartment herself. She’d wanted to see if anything could be salvaged. Clark had been hesitant, telling her there was very little point. While he said he hadn’t seen it for himself, he had heard enough from his detective friend to know that it was bad.

He came out from the bedroom with a glum expression.

“It’s not any better in there,” he said. “He set fire to your bedding and your clothing and there’s nothing salvageable. The police told me it was lucky you had a smoke detector in the bedroom which alerted the neighbour, otherwise the whole place would have gone up. I’m sorry, Lois.”

She shook her head. “I’m just glad I wasn’t here, otherwise Perry would probably be writing my obituary.” Clark winced. “Sorry. I shouldn’t say that.”

“It’s the truth. I’m glad you weren’t here too.” He scratched his jaw. “There was a box of stuff in the closet.”

“Photos. Me and Chloe, mostly. I should go through it.”

Clark shook his head. “It looks like he went through those too.” He appeared to be keeping something back.

“What are you not telling me?” she asked. “What did he do?”

“Uh … it looks like he, um …” He gestured helplessly. Lois felt ill all over again. Maybe they were only photos but it was a violation of the worst kind. 

Clark wrapped his arms around her in a hug. “He’s dead, Lois. He can’t hurt you anymore.”

“I know, it’s just …” 

She had never told anyone, not even Chloe, what had prompted her entry into journalism. She had always found high school difficult, not just because she had moved around so much, but she was often restless, unable to settle down long enough to actually find something about school that interested her. 

In her junior year, she had been taken on a field trip to the local newspaper as part of her English class. It was hardly the Daily Planet; barely more than a tabloid rag. A girl who had befriended her on the first day had gone along on the field trip. Denise had reminded her a lot of Chloe with her passionate interest in journalism, proclaiming that she was going to one day be the editor of the New York Times.

Lois had found her friend one afternoon in the girls’ locker room of the school gym. It was clear Denise had been crying. Lois had talked to her, trying to find out what was wrong. To her horror, her friend had told her that a teacher at the school, a male teacher, had tried to force her to have sex with him. 

Lois had gone to her father, telling him the whole story, but he did nothing. A month after the incident, he’d told her they were moving once again. She had no choice in the matter.

Just a few weeks after they’d moved to an army base across the country, a friend from her old school called. Denise had been sent away by her devoutly religious parents because she was pregnant. They had refused to believe her when she told them she had been raped by one of her teachers and she had been too afraid to get an abortion. The baby had been adopted out when it was born but Denise’s dreams had been shattered.

Lois had been angry enough to do her own digging and learned the identity of the teacher. Yet even with that information, the school had done nothing. Her friend’s troubles had counted for nothing. She had never felt so angry and so helpless. She had written an editorial piece for the base rag. While the editor hadn’t run it, he had called her into his office and told her she had potential.

“You’ve got a great aptitude for writing. Your prose practically leaps off the page. I get that this is something you’re passionate about, but …”

“It did happen.”

“I’m not saying it didn’t,” he said. “But to make such accusations without the evidence to back it up is not responsible journalism.”

Then he’d offered her a job, working for the newspaper, telling her if she kept her grades up, studied hard in college, she could continue to work for them until she was ready for the big leagues.

Clark sat quietly on the couch opposite her as she told him. 

“I’m sorry that happened to you and your friend,” he said. “That must have been a difficult time.”

“I swore I would never let something like that happen again, if I could help it. Maybe it can’t change what happened to Denise, but …”

“It can change the course of someone else’s life,” he said. “I get it.”

She studied him. “What made you study journalism?”

“I had this headmaster at Excelsior. He was kind of a hard case. He called me a slacker because I didn’t play sports, and didn’t really participate in extra-curriculars. Anyway, he called me into his office and he told me he’d been talking to my AP English teacher who said I had an aptitude for writing. So I joined the school newspaper.”

Lois frowned at him, wondering why, with his family’s background in archery, he hadn’t taken up the sport himself. She knew his father had once competed in the Olympics, although once he’d returned he’d begun working for his father and built a successful company. 

“So you went to college, got a masters degree in what … three years?”

He nodded. “About that.”

“But how could you? I mean, most degrees take four years, then about two years for Masters …”

“I took some college papers while I was still at Excelsior and got them credited toward my degree. I had a heavy workload at Met U, but I didn’t mind that.”

“So what did you do after you finished your degree?”

“I wrote freelance for a few magazines,” he said. “At least until I took over the Daily Planet. Sadly, I don’t have the time to do any writing now.”

She gazed at him, confused. “Freelance?” she echoed. “I don’t remember seeing any articles by Clark Queen. I mean, I ‘googled’ you.”

“That’s because I chose to write under another name so it wouldn’t look like I was cashing in on my family’s fame,” he said. 

“What name?”

“Jerome Kent.”

She stared at him. “Really? Oh my god! Your writing is amazing!”

He looked abashed. “Thank you.”

“I mean it. There was this series you did on global warming and the effects on the environment and I thought it was incredible. I mean, you really did your homework.”

She should have guessed, she thought. Especially after learning that he was close with the Kents. 

“Did you ever think about writing a book on it?” she asked. 

He nodded. “The editor of the magazine thought I should compile everything I’d written into a book but I really don’t have the time to devote to it. One day, maybe.”

She chewed on her lip, accepting his answer for now. She couldn’t help thinking that he was missing out on a great opportunity, but she supposed there was still time. His writing really was amazing, though, she thought. 

Clark rose when the housekeeper came in with the phone.

“It’s Miss Lane’s insurance company,” she said.

Lois got up to take the phone, but he shook his head. “Let me deal with them,” he said. 

She doubted they would let him discuss the matter with them, due to the privacy laws, but he appeared adamant. 

“This is Clark Queen. Yes, I know you really need to talk to Miss Lane about her insurance claim, but she’s been upset enough. Who am I? Well, I’m her partner. No, I know I’m not an authority on the policy but … is there perhaps a supervisor I can speak to? I would very much appreciate it if your company could help us out. Yes, I can put Miss Lane on.”

Lois took the phone. “This is Lois.”

“Miss Lane, I’m sorry for this, but would you mind confirming your social security number?”

“Sure.” She gave the number and answered any other security questions.

“Do you authorise Mr Queen to discuss your insurance matter?”

“Yes. Sorry, he’s just being over-protective,” she said, rolling her eyes fondly at Clark, who rolled his eyes back at her. 

“Oh, no worries,” the woman said, chuckling. “If you’d like to put him back on the line.”

Lois handed the phone over. Clark took it and immediately began speaking.

“Yes, so what is the situation with Lois’ renter’s insurance? Will she be able to claim or not?” There was a long pause. “It was hardly her fault.” Lois watched as he paced back and forth, talking in an increasingly irritated tone. 

She could tell he was annoyed when he finally hung up. “According to the company, the cost of the damages far exceeded the amount you were covered for, and since you didn’t have your contents insured …”

Lois sighed. She had suspected as much. It was annoying that she was now being made to pay for what Trax had done, but it wasn’t like the landlord could sue the penal system, and there was no likelihood of getting any compensation out of LexCorp. After all, Trax had been LexCorp’s responsibility. 

“I’m sorry,” Clark said. 

“I’m annoyed, but like you said, it was just things.”

He wrapped his arms around her. She breathed in the scent of his aftershave, feeling comforted by his embrace. She loved his outdoorsy smell. 

“How about I take you out to dinner?” he asked.

She wanted to say she didn’t have a thing to wear, which was true. Apart from the jeans he’d already bought her. 

“There’s this diner in New Troy,” he continued. 

She laughed, looking up at him. “Clark Queen, are you suggesting taking me to a diner for our first actual date?”

He looked crestfallen. “I thought you … I mean, I could take you to a French restaurant, or …”

She laughed and shook her head. “Don’t you know when I’m yanking your chain? For one thing, I don’t have a thing to wear that would be suitable for a French restaurant. And two, you don’t need to wine and dine me at some fancy restaurant to impress me. I already know you. Warts and all.”

“Warts and all, hmm?” he asked with a smile. Yet she somehow got the feeling that there was something he still wasn’t telling her. 

The diner he took her to was a lot nicer than some of the diners she’d been in. It was clear from the get-go that the staff knew him as they greeted him with friendly chatter. She remembered something Jack Kent had told her. Clark was definitely comfortable in the diner. 

“The great thing about this place is that the Paparazzi don’t know I come here,” he said. “And the staff don’t say a word either.”

“It must be great,” she said. “I mean, being able to go out to eat without press photographers breathing down your neck.”

“Yeah, it is,” he replied, smiling at her. “I mean, I get that they’re trying to do their jobs and everything, but I don’t feel like my whole life should be splashed in the papers.”

His expression turned sombre. He reached across the table and took her hand.

“Lois, I know you were upset after that incident at the Ace of Clubs. You have to know that things like that happen all the time. Most of the time anyway. If this is something you don’t think you can handle …”

She remembered seeing the article in the Inquisitor four months earlier and how she had reacted. She bit her lip. They’d already talked about the Paparazzi and what could happen, but she knew he needed that reassurance. 

“I know last time I didn’t exactly handle it well,” she conceded. “But it’s because I wasn’t prepared for it. I mean, Chloe didn’t say just how bad it could get when she suggested I go with you to the function. I know better now. I mean, I saw what they wrote about you and Tess. I won’t say it’ll be easy, but at least I know what to expect.”

“Good,” he said. 

She studied him as the server brought their food over, wondering why she kept getting the feeling he wasn’t telling her everything. He was holding back.


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark takes Lois to a function

Clark smiled at Lois and held out his hand to help her out of the limousine. He admired her as she stepped onto the sidewalk. She was wearing a charcoal grey gown in silk. The fabric clung to her curves in all the right places and shimmered in the bright lights lining the carpeted entry to the hotel. 

Flashbulbs went off in quick succession as press photographers called them, demanding they give them better angles. Lois clung to his hand as they began what felt like an interminably long walk up the red carpet to the open double doors.

They’d officially been dating six weeks and the press had had a field day. Lois had gone back to work at the Daily Planet a week after Trax had tried to kill her. As much as he’d hated the idea of shopping, he had taken her to the local department store so she could replenish her wardrobe. He hadn’t cared about the expense but Lois had insisted on keeping to a budget. 

Another thing she had insisted on was getting another apartment. Since it was the middle of winter, finding another place to live wasn’t an easy task. Clark had almost suggested buying an apartment for her and gone as far as looking online at real estate, but she had quickly caught on and firmly vetoed that idea. She had eventually found one, although she had to share the apartment with an older woman. 

The only fly-in-the-ointment in their burgeoning relationship had been Lex. He had started to take an interest in Lois, on the pretext of being concerned about her wellbeing after what had happened. Much to Clark’s surprise, the bald billionaire had insisted on helping Lois recoup some of what she had lost in the vandalism of her apartment. She had politely declined, but it hadn’t stopped the man from further attempts to ingratiate himself.

Speak of the devil, Clark thought as the very man stood in the lobby talking to the state senator. Lex turned and smiled at them as they entered. 

“Clark. Lois. A pleasure to see you here.”

Lois nodded, gracious in spite of her dislike of the man. 

“You too, Mr Luthor.”

He smiled. “Lex, please.” He glanced over Clark’s shoulder at the photographers still trying to get their money’s worth. “Still being harassed?”

Clark nodded politely. The photographers had practically camped on his doorstep, which didn’t make it easy when he needed to go out as Superman. 

Lex took Lois’ hand and lifted it to his mouth, placing a soft kiss on her knuckles. 

“May I say, Lois, you look very lovely tonight. Doesn’t she, Clark?”

Clark turned to look at her, once again admiring her in the halter-neck dress. She had worn her hair long and loose and it framed her face in chocolate waves, contrasting perfectly with her skin tone. 

“Yes, she does,” he said, giving her a look full of the love he had yet to verbalise. She dropped her gaze coyly, her long dark lashes almost sweeping her cheeks. 

She pulled her hand away from Lex and turned to smile up at him. Clark smiled at her and placed a hand on her back as he walked with her up the carpeted stairs to the hotel ballroom. 

“Now, don’t forget,” he said.

“I know, I know. Don’t discuss politics, or religion. And if I see someone like Congressman Howard, don’t mention the congressional hearings.”

He grinned at her and kissed her cheek. The congressman had had to face the music after hearings into misappropriation of funds. Lois had been covering the story from the beginning when Howard had been caught out.

Yet another local politician had been discovered to be having an affair with his executive assistant. Clark had barely managed to smooth things over when Lois had begun talking about it at another event they’d been invited to. 

It wasn’t that she lacked tact, or that she just didn’t know when to keep quiet about such things. She was just one of those people who expected elected officials to behave themselves and do their jobs. He was proud of her for that. She treated everyone with equal measures. 

“Clark, Lois, over here.”

He looked over to the far side of the ballroom. Oliver stood with Chloe, who hadn’t wanted to leave her six-week-old son but the charity fundraiser had been important enough for her to do so. 

Lois hugged her cousin. She hadn’t seen Chloe since a few weeks before the birth.

“You look amazing!” she said, looking the blonde over. Chloe was wearing a green satin gown. While she hadn’t quite lost all the baby weight, the extra curves suited her. 

“So do you,” her cousin replied.

Clark grinned at his brother as the two women began chatting. Oliver groaned.

“They’ll be at it all night at this rate,” he said. 

Chloe shot him a dirty look and guided Lois over toward the bar so they could continue chatting. 

“So how is everything with Lois?” Oliver asked.

“It’s fine,” Clark said.

“You told her yet?”

He sighed. “No. We’ve only been dating a few weeks.”

“Mom said from the way you were talking …”

“I’m not sure Lois is ready to believe in a strange visitor from a strange land.”

His brother rolled his eyes. “Come on. Do you really think she thinks Superman is one of the meteor-infected? Just because she’s been chasing up one of Lex’s pet projects, it doesn’t mean she includes Superman as one of them. Anyone with half a brain would see that he, meaning you, has way more powers than that.”

Ever since the incident with Trax, Lois had been digging even deeper into Lex’s activities, not buying for a second that the project he’d sold as a behavioural therapy program to reform hardened criminals was as altruistic as he’d claimed it was. 

Clark sighed. “It’s not … look, you don’t get it.”

Oliver shrugged. “What’s not to get? You spend way too much time worrying about what she’s going to think of you and doing nothing about it.”

“It isn’t that simple, Oliver.”

“Look, just because someone like Lana Lang did a number on you …”

Clark’s gaze was drawn to the main entrance into the ballroom. The very woman in question appeared, gliding through the entryway as if she was royalty. She’d dumped Lex a few weeks after Tess Mercer had left to take a job in Miami. From what Clark had heard from one of the maids who worked in Lex’s mansion, he’d reverted back to his usual ‘charming’ self, abusing the staff. When he’d almost hit Lana during an argument, that had been the last straw as far as she was concerned. 

She was accompanied by her aunt Nell, who had come into quite a considerable amount of money herself when her husband died. 

Clark nudged his brother. “You better go find Mom and keep her away from Lana. You know she hates Nell.”

Oliver followed his gaze and nodded. “Yeah. You’re right.”

Lana spotted Lois and Chloe talking and wasted no time in sidling up to them. Clark was tempted to eavesdrop, but figured Chloe, for one, wouldn’t thank him for it. From the expressions on the cousins’ faces, it looked like Lana was saying something that both found offensive. Chloe stalked off in search of her husband while Lois turned her back on the other brunette and went to help herself to a drink.

Lana, meanwhile, decided to set her sights on Clark.

“Hello Clark,” she said, her tone suggesting she was trying to be seductive.

“Lana.”

“Here on your own?”

“No. I’m here with a date.” He glanced in Lois’ direction.

“Oh, yes, I heard you were dating one of your reporters.”

“Her name is Lois,” he said firmly, not liking the way she deliberately ignored the fact. 

The dark-haired woman sniffed indelicately. “Don’t you think that would look a little odd? You being the publisher and her being your ‘star’ reporter?”

“How I conduct my lovelife, or my business, personal or otherwise, is just that. My business. It is not your concern.”

“But she’s so … what’s the word I’m looking for?” Clark noticed Nell had joined them.

“Uncouth?” the older woman supplied. “Completely lacking in social graces?”

“Unlike you, I suppose?” Clark sighed as his mother also appeared beside him. “At least young Lois isn’t afraid to speak her mind.”

Nell gave a tinkling sort of laugh. “Oh yes, she certainly does speak her mind. Didn’t she insult Mayor Smythe just the other week?”

“By insult, you mean telling him to his face what a lecherous jerk he was?” Lois answered, placing her hand on Clark’s arm. “The man pinched my butt and treated me like a ten-dollar hooker instead of answering my questions like the professional he is supposed to be.” She turned to Lana. “And as for you, Lana, if you ever talk to my cousin like that again, the only reply you’ll get is my fist in your face.”

“Lois,” Clark warned softly. 

His mother interjected. “Chloe told me,” she said, “and believe me, it is so insulting, it is not worth repeating. God forbid you ever have a child yourself, Miss Lang. I would hate to think how that poor child would turn out if the way your aunt raised you is any indication of where you learned your manners!”

“Well! I never!” Nell returned. 

The two older women began exchanging hard glares akin to two cowboys facing each other on a dusty street. Thankfully, Chloe and Oliver managed to pull Moira away, while Clark took Lois’ arm and guided her to Senator Jack Jennings.

“Senator,” he said. “I’d like you to meet Lois Lane.”

The older man smiled. “Well, I’ve heard all about young Miss Lane from Jon,” he said, reaching out to shake her hand. 

“Jon?” she asked.

He nodded. “Jonathan Kent and I are old high school buddies.”

“Oh. It’s nice to meet you,” she said. She frowned, clearly trying to remember his bio. She glanced at Clark before speaking again. “Weren’t you caught up in some scandal a few years ago when you were on the campaign trail?”

The dark-haired man nodded. “Yes, it’s true.”

Jack had been cheating on his wife, having fallen for a young woman at a gentleman’s club. The young woman had been murdered after she had tried to expose one of the club’s patrons; a man who had been involved in human-trafficking. Unfortunately, the man had also been a diplomat’s son. 

Chloe had been interning at the Daily Planet and had been the one to take the call from the young woman. Meanwhile, when Jack had been questioned by the police, he had asked for help from his old friend. Jonathan had then asked the Queens to see what they could do to help.

Jack had suggested stepping down, even after it had been proved that he had had nothing to do with the murder, but Moira had convinced him not to. She had told him to come clean with firstly his wife, then the voters. He had actually won votes by his honesty. Unlike Lex, his opponent in the race, who had tried to win using a smear campaign. 

Clark watched as Lois and the senator talked, both beginning to relax in each other’s company. Jack hadn’t taken offence at all to Lois’ forward question. He’d taken the mistakes he’d made and used them as an object lesson and the people respected him more for it. It was obvious that Lois also respected his forthrightness and willingness to be so open about it. 

Clark just wished he could be as open and honest with his girlfriend as he wanted to be. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her. He’d talked with her enough as Superman to know that she understood his reasons for not revealing everything about how he came to be on Earth. 

He remembered something Lana had once said which had cut deeply. There had been attacks on meteor freaks at Smallville High School. Clark had been at school at Excelsior, so he hadn’t been there when it happened. His then girlfriend had implied it was ‘good riddance’. As far as she had been concerned, they had deserved everything they got. Never mind the fact that the person behind the attacks had also been meteor-infected. It had only made him more determined than ever to keep his secret. 

Lois hadn’t said anything of the sort. In fact, she hadn’t talked much at all about the subject, even after everything that had happened. Once she had realised that the experimental serum used in the behaviour modification therapy was similar to what Lex had been using in some of the other experiments she’d been investigating, she had thrown herself into the story. 

Clark had heard Cat Grant talking to Lois about what had happened the night Trax had come after her, suggesting that Superman had not been doing his job. Clark had been surprised and even impressed when Lois had firmly told the other woman that Superman could not be everywhere at once. More to the point he wasn’t psychic and could hardly have predicted what would happen, since he hadn’t known about the program. 

“Hey,” Lois said, interrupting his thoughts. “You okay?”

“I’m fine. Just thinking.”

“About what?”

“Oh, nothing, really. Senator Jennings seemed to really like you.”

She smiled. “I liked him too. I mean, yeah, he made some mistakes in the past but you know what? He owned up to them. That takes guts. You have to respect the man for that.”

“True.”

A few couples had begun dancing. Clark watched his brother as he walked with Chloe to the dance floor. He took his girlfriend’s hand.

“Do you want to dance?”

“Dare I risk it?” she asked with a teasing smile. The last time they’d danced together he’d stepped on her feet a couple of times. 

He rolled his eyes. “Okay, so I’m not exactly Fred Astaire!”

“Well, no, not with those big feet. You know what they say about men with big feet, don’t you?”

He stared at her, wondering if she was going to talk about the size of other parts of his body, feeling a blush creeping up. 

“No. What?”

“Large … shoes!” she said, laughing. He growled softly at her.

“You, Miss Lane, are trouble.”

“Is that what I am?” she teased, gasping softly as he pulled her close and planted a kiss on her lips. “That, Mr Queen, is PDA number …” She frowned.

“Are you keeping count now?” he asked.

“Hmm, not so much. I think I lost count around number eight.”

He laughed, sweeping her onto the dance floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in posting. It's been a bit of a rough week.


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things heat up.

The ride home in Clark’s limousine was way too long for Lois’ liking. She sat next to her boyfriend wondering how to ease the sudden tension between them. Ever since they’d left the hotel, he had been sitting stiffly in his seat.

She turned to him. “Are you okay?”

He looked at her, appearing a little confused by her question. “I’m fine. Why?”

“I don’t know. You just seem tense. Is there something bothering you? Did I do something …”

“No, Lois, you were perfect.”

“Then what is it?”

“You’re going to think I’m nuts.”

“Tell me.”

He shook his head. “I think I should just show you instead.”

He leaned across, pulling her close as he caught her lips in a passionate kiss. She felt his hand cupping her cheek, pushing her long hair back. She shifted on her seat, her movement slightly restricted by the skirt of her gown catching underneath. The kiss deepened and she moaned softly, wanting more but unable to get closer.

Clark seemed to read her difficulty and pulled her practically onto his lap, wrapping his arms around her. They continued to kiss passionately, oblivious to everything but each other. 

She still had no idea why he was so tense, but she wondered if it had something to do with the way he was kissing her. As if he was a man starved for any kind of intimacy. She briefly recalled Tess and wondered if he had ever kissed the redhead this way, but she didn’t think so. Not with such passion. 

The limo came to a stop and the driver spoke through the intercom.

“Queen Tower, sir.”

Lois was glad of the brief respite as they broke apart and got out of the limo. Lois followed Clark into the building, clutching his hand as they stepped into the elevator. She turned to him, not sure what to say. His lips were upturned in a half-smile and he was definitely more relaxed. 

Before she could react, he’d pulled her once more into his arms, kissing her. She could have sworn he had more than two hands as they made out in the elevator. She felt his hands all over her body as he caressed her through the silk of her dress. 

The elevator ground to a halt and Clark pulled the door open. He took her hand and pulled her inside the apartment. They continued to make out, somehow finding their way to the library. Lois lifted her arms as Clark kissed her shoulder, reaching for the shelves for balance.

She pushed him away, grinning as he looked at her, clearly just as caught up in the emotion of the moment. She pushed him again so he almost fell backwards onto the chaise lounge. Lois pulled up the long skirt and knelt on the seat, her knee between his legs, taking his lips in another kiss. 

Clark took her hand, pulling her closer so he could wrap his arm around her waist. His other hand slid up her thigh underneath her skirt to squeeze her hip. 

Kissing him was better than anything she had ever done with every other man she’d dated. Somehow it felt more intimate, as if it opened the way to a deep connection that she had never felt with anyone else. Lois never wanted to stop feeling that connection with him. 

They hadn’t said those three little words to each other. She had hesitated every time she wanted to tell him. She had once said those same words to someone who had broken her heart into a million pieces. 

It had been a different kind of love, of course. A daughter’s love for a father who kept her at a distance. Who treated her as he would one of his soldiers, rather than his own flesh-and-blood. She had wondered probably a million times if he would have felt differently had she been born a boy. 

She knew her father’s distance was the reason she couldn’t say those words to the man she was beginning to fall deeply in love with. Yet there was also something else that made her hesitate with him. Something that niggled in the back of her brain. 

There had been a couple of times in the first few months of their earlier friendship when she’d gone to talk to him only to have him give her some sort of excuse for bowing out of the conversation. 

A few times more recently he’d been late meeting her for their dates. At least twice he’d been at least thirty minutes late, and Clark was a stickler for being punctual. Once when they’d gone to dinner, toward the end of the evening, he’d seemed a little distracted. While he’d tried to pretend everything was fine, she knew enough body language to know that his attention was somewhere else.

Yet when they were together like this, every inch of his being was focused on her. As if he loved being with her. Even if they hadn’t actually got to the physical part of making love. 

She pulled away slightly and looked down at him. He appeared almost dazed. Their clothes were in complete disarray. The skirt of her gown was creased and pushed up almost above her waist, while one side of the bodice had slid over exposing a breast. Clark’s suit hadn’t fared much better. His tie had been unknotted and was hanging loosely around his neck while several buttons on his shirt had popped open. 

His hair, usually almost slicked-back, was a tangled wavy black mass and his glasses were askew. 

His voice was hoarse as he spoke.

“Uh, we should …”

“Yeah, we should call it a night,” she finished. “Before we …”

“No, I … I was going to say we should take this upstairs, but if you’re not sure, I …”

She knew what it meant. While he hadn’t given her all the intimate details of his lovelife, she was fairly certain he hadn’t been with many women. He was either very selective about his bed partners or he was that rare type of man who preferred to be in a committed relationship before he went to bed with someone. 

She stood up, waiting for him to join her. Just as they started for the stairs, he appeared to hesitate. He turned his head, almost as if he was listening for something. 

“Clark?”

“Why don’t you go upstairs?” he said. “I’ll just make sure everything’s locked up down here.”

Nodding, Lois kissed him quickly and walked away. As she put her hand on the bannister to ascend the stairs, she thought she heard something. When there were no further sounds, she decided she had imagined it and went upstairs to his bedroom. 

She pulled back the covers and took off her clothes. Naked, she got into bed, pulling the sheet up. She lay there, listening, but there were no sounds from downstairs and she couldn’t hear him coming up. Lois fell asleep after only a few minutes.

She had no idea what time it was when she woke. Lois frowned and rolled over, feeling for a light switch. She managed to find the lamp on the nightstand and turned it on, then looked around. Clark wasn’t in bed with her and there was no sign he’d been sleeping next to her.

Lois got up, looking around for something to cover herself and found the walk-in closet. She grabbed a shirt, buttoning it as she walked out of the bedroom and down the stairs. The lights were still on, which was odd. Her bag was still on the floor where she’d dropped it when they came in and she took out her cellphone. It was almost three in the morning. They’d got back to the apartment around midnight, and if she estimated an hour before she’d gone upstairs, she’d been asleep for around two hours.

Where was Clark? 

Lois searched through the apartment but he was nowhere to be seen. It seemed he’d done another of his disappearing acts. 

***

The phone rang, disturbing his sleep. Oliver grumbled and rolled over to pick it up.

“What?”

“Is that any way to answer the phone, Queen?”

He frowned and glanced at the clock on the nightstand. It was just after five.

“Lois, it’s five o’clock in the morning,” he complained, hearing low murmurs coming from the baby monitor on the nightstand on the other side of the bed. 

“I need to talk to Chloe.”

“She’s feeding Conner,” he told her. “What’s going on? I figured you’d be sleeping in after last night.”

“I’ve been up since three,” she said. “Tell me something, Oliver. Is there something wrong with me that your idiot brother would rather turn tail and run than actually go to bed with me?”

“He did what? Ow!” Oliver sat up suddenly, forgetting there was a lamp just above the headboard and knocked his head on it. While it wasn’t a hard knock, it still stung a little. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, we were, you know, making out and everything was going great. He even suggested going upstairs, but then it was like he changed his mind. I went upstairs but he didn’t. When I came down to look for him at three o’clock, he wasn’t there. He hadn’t come back by the time I left.”

Chloe came in with the baby. They’d left him with the new nanny while they’d gone out to the function the night before, but his wife had barely gone twenty minutes without wanting to call and make sure her son was okay. 

She frowned at him, mouthing something that he couldn’t quite make out. He spoke into the phone. “Here’s Chloe,” he said, handing the phone over to his wife before taking the six-week-old infant, who had begun to fuss. 

Chloe began talking to her cousin, disappearing from the room. Oliver rocked the baby in his arms, rubbing his back, calming him as he grabbed a shirt and pants from the closet. He still found it difficult juggling his son and getting dressed at the same time.

He left their room with just his pants on, still trying to put the shirt on.

His mother, used to the early morning wake-up calls, came out of her own room, frowning at him. 

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Clark was with Lois last night but he disappeared on her and didn’t come home. I need to go check this out.”

She took the baby with a frown. “You mean to tell me he still hasn’t told her the truth?”

Oliver quickly put on his shirt and grabbed his running shoes from beside the door to their hotel suite.

“No, he hasn’t. I really don’t know what he’s waiting for, but I’ve given up trying to read Clark.”

“That boy needs his head examined,” his mother said, sighing. She smiled down at her grandson.

“Yeah, tell me about it. One of these days, Lois is going to figure it out and she’s going to be plenty pissed when she does. She’s not stupid.”

Oliver tried calling his brother using the communication devices Bruce had had made for all the Leaguers but there was no reply. It had snowed overnight and he had to drive at almost a crawl through the streets. A snow plough had been through but the roads were icy. He wasn’t surprised to see hardly anyone about. 

It was five-thirty before he reached the huge-domed building that housed Watchtower. Oliver left the car on the street and ran inside, waiting impatiently for the elevator to go through its security check before it made its way up the several floors to what Chloe often called the superheroes not-so-secret clubhouse.

He wasn’t surprised to find Bruce at the helm. The dark-haired man looked at him in surprise. 

“What are you doing here?” he asked. “You’re out of breath. Did you run all the way from Star City?”

He shook his head. “We’re staying at the Lexor Hotel. Have you seen Clark?”

“No. I thought he was off-duty?”

“He was. Mostly. Charity thing. He was with Lois late last night but he disappeared on her. I tried his comm but I can’t reach him.”

Bruce frowned. “That doesn’t sound like him. He was the one who made the rule all members needed to check in when out on missions.”

“I know. I was there, remember? Was Superman out on any job last night that you know of?”

Bruce turned to the monitor and began searching through police reports. 

“There was a disturbance in Suicide Slum,” he said. “Multiple shots fired. Couple of carjackings.”

Oliver stared at him. “You don’t think …”

The other man shrugged. “Better suit up and check it out,” he said. “If Clark’s in trouble …”

Oliver nodded and went out to grab his spare Green Arrow costume. As he changed clothes, he couldn’t help worrying about his little brother. Something had clearly happened. He just hoped Clark was all right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, sorry for the delay in posting. Just to let you know, my mum's in hospital. She was last week too, but had been discharged. She is now more seriously ill. So I don't know when I'll be able to post again as the posting has caught up to what I've written.


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois gets a lead on a story.

Lois was tired and grouchy from lack of sleep but she was too pissed to go back to bed. She had no idea what was going on in her boyfriend’s head but to disappear on her, in the middle of their evening, especially after what they’d just been doing was just annoying. No, not annoying, she thought. Infuriating. 

How did she manage to fall for someone so … When she got hold of him she would … She wrung her hands, picturing it in her mind. It was like a song she’d been introduced to by a friend. Something about hugging her guy then wrapping her hands around his neck.

She continued to pace the floor of her apartment, going over and over it in her mind. Clark better have a damned good explanation for whatever it was he was doing, she thought. 

She had talked to Chloe for a few minutes, but was still too upset over what had happened. That had been less than half an hour ago. 

Her cellphone rang and she snatched it up, thinking it would be Oliver or Chloe letting her know what had happened. She didn’t recognise the caller.

“Lois Lane!” she snapped.

“Yo, babe!”

She scowled. If there was one thing she hated, it was being called ‘babe’.

“Who is this?”

“Whaddya mean, ‘who is this?’ It’s me, Sparky. TJ’s buddy.”

TJ. She hadn’t thought of him in a few weeks. She hadn’t even gone to the funeral. Not that she figured she’d be welcome anyway, since it was because of her that he’d been murdered by Trax. 

“What do you want?” she asked.

“I got a lead for you. On that stuff you’ve been investigating.”

She thought quickly. After she’d learned that Trax’s peculiar strength had been thanks to a serum invented by LexCorp scientists, she had been doing some digging. The serum had supposedly been destroyed, but a couple of weeks ago she had discovered that the formula was now being sold on the black market as a new kind of drug, known as Potentia. 

Sparky explained that he had heard it was being manufactured in a warehouse in the middle of Suicide Slum. 

“Here’s the kicker,” he said. “Superman was down there early this morning.”

“What was he doing there?” she asked.

“Local gangs decided to have it out.”

That still didn’t explain what it had to do with the drug but she let it go. 

“Where is this warehouse?” she asked.

He gave her the address. Lois hung up the phone before grabbing her bag and keys. She caught a taxi to the location, noting with a sense of unease the filthiness of the area.

“You sure you want to stop here, lady?” the cab driver asked.

“Yeah,” she said, handing him a few bills. She could see two men staring at the cab. Both appeared to be very rough types. 

Lois got out, watching as the driver hightailed it out of there like his ass was on fire. She held tightly to her bag as she circled the warehouse, looking for a way in. She checked out the various corners of the building, making sure there were no security cameras. She didn’t expect any. The building looked derelict, as if it hadn’t been used in years. 

She continued looking around and found a boarded-up window on the second floor. A couple of the boards appeared to be rotten. Lois climbed up on some wooden pallets to the window. She pulled the boards away as quietly as she could and squeezed through the gap. 

The window was in a small room. As she got down, she put her hand on something sticky. At the same time, something crawled over her hand. She groaned and looked down. About half a dozen cockroaches skittered over the floor. 

“Great,” she muttered. She normally wasn’t afraid of creepy-crawlies but cockroaches made her skin crawl. 

She looked around the room and saw bottles of chemicals. She guessed she was in some kind of a supply closet. 

The door had clearly been broken at some point as it was hanging off its hinges. Lois opened it cautiously and found it led to a narrow corridor. Whoever was using the warehouse now probably didn’t think anyone would come in and hadn’t bothered to check this area, she thought.

She stepped out, walking slowly and as quietly as possible, following the corridor. After about fifty feet, there was an area where she assumed management in the old days would have been able to look out over the warehouse floor. 

She flattened herself against the wall and peeked around the corner, quickly checking out the scene below. She could see a couple of tables with what appeared to be lab equipment. Someone in a white coat was working at the table. Three men were packing something into bottles while a fourth man watched with a bored expression. He appeared to be security of some description as he had a gun in a holster. 

On a stand beside the tables, Lois could see vials of some kind of green liquid. She wondered what it was.

“Hey, anybody check on Blue?” one of the men called out. 

“Maybe he’s dead,” another of the men replied with a chuckle. 

Frowning, Lois risked it and edged closer, trying to figure out who they were talking about. She noticed what looked to her like some kind of meat locker in the far corner of the warehouse. 

Before she had a chance to figure out how to get down to the next floor, there was the sound of shattering glass and Green Arrow slid down on a thick cable. The men began to scramble but the man in green leather was too swift, firing off three arrows in quick succession. Lois guessed they were taser arrows as three bodies jerked as if they’d been electrocuted.

The guard fired on Green Arrow, who dodged quickly, leapt into the air, gripping the cable he’d used to descend and kicked the man with a side kick to the head. The technician, or whoever they were, took one look at Green Arrow and dropped whatever they were doing, running off. 

As she watched, Lois saw the leather-suited hero look around, then head for the meat locker. She gasped as he took off the dark glasses he wore.

“Oliver,” she whispered.

How could she have not known that her cousin’s husband was Green Arrow? 

Never mind that, she told herself. She had plenty of time to figure that out later. Oliver opened the meat locker and went in, pulling out a clearly unconscious Superman.

Lois covered her mouth with her hand. The hero looked as if he had been beaten to a pulp. His face was bruised and bloody. Inside the meat locker, Lois could see a green glow. 

As soon as Oliver pulled Superman away from whatever it was that was creating that eerie luminescence, the glow faded. Lois stared in amazement as Oliver cradled the other man in his arms as the red-and-blue superhero slowly recovered consciousness. He appeared upset. More upset than he would if Superman was just a colleague.

After a few minutes, and with Oliver’s help, he was able to stand. Just barely, she thought as she saw him stagger slightly. 

“What the hell happened, Clark?” Oliver said.

Lois blinked rapidly several times. She had taken some rudimentary lessons in reading lips. While it was not perfect, she knew she was not mistaken. Even if she hadn’t read the name on his lips, Oliver’s worried demeanour suggested that Green Arrow and Superman had a close relationship. Like brothers. 

As tempted as she was to check this out further, she hung back. 

***

Clark hung on to his brother, still feeling weak and tired. He had discovered the warehouse by accident after intervening in the gang warfare. He’d learned from one of the gang members that they were working for someone distributing a new drug which had found its way to the streets. The rival gang had been trying to get in on the deal and that had led to the confrontation in the middle of the night. 

He’d quickly realised the drug was the same one Lois had been investigating. It was also the same serum being used at the now discontinued program at LexCorp – the same one that had almost got her killed. 

“Let’s get you out of here,” Oliver told him.

He nodded and let his brother guide him out of the warehouse. Once he was out in the sunlight, he felt his powers returning. Oliver led him to his motorcycle.

“I can meet you at Watchtower,” he said.

“Clark, you’re …”

“I’m fine. I can’t exactly fly yet, but I can at least run.”

His brother looked reluctant to let him out of his sight, but Clark convinced him he was fine. He waited, watching as Oliver disguised himself once more as Green Arrow, pulling up his leather hood, before starting the motorcycle and driving off. Clark ran, noting that his speed was not quite at full strength. 

He arrived at Watchtower within a few minutes. Bruce stood at the console.

“Where have you been?” he asked.

“Long story.”

“Oliver was …”

“He found me. He’ll be here in a few.”

The dark-haired man nodded. “Something on your mind?” he asked as Clark wandered around the room.

“No. Maybe. I just don’t know how I’m going to explain this to Lois.”

“Yeah, I saw the photo in the gossip column. Have to say, she’s one damn fine-looking woman. You’re a lucky man.”

Clark moaned softly. “How lucky am I going to be when I basically disappeared on her in the middle of the date? Just when we were going to go upstairs and …”

Bruce looked surprised. “You must be pretty serious about her if you were planning …”

“I hadn’t exactly planned it. I just … I mean, I was going to tell her everything about me before we did anything that intimate, but I got so caught up in the moment. Lois is … she’s one of a kind. She’s the first woman I’ve ever felt …”

“Yeah, I get that. I was around for the last disaster. Remember?”

Clark didn’t have a chance to respond as Oliver came in. 

“How many times do I have to remind you to check out a scene before you go barrelling in?” his brother told him. “You could have been killed.”

“I know,” he said, contrite. “I didn’t check it out thoroughly enough.” He explained that the meat locker he'd been thrown into had been lead-lined and he hadn't seen the stash of Kryptonite until it was too late.

Bruce frowned at Oliver. “What happened?”

“Kryptonite, is what happened.” Oliver turned back to Clark. “You’re an idiot!”

“How did you know?”

“What? That you’re an idiot? I’ve known that since Mom and Dad adopted you.”

“Not that, Jerk! That I was even there!”

“Lois called me. She is very pissed at you, by the way!”

“I know!” he said, sighing. “She has every right to be.”

“Even I would never have done that to Chloe. She would have busted my … well, you know what she would have busted. Lois isn’t stupid, Clark. She’s going to figure this out. It’s not the first time you’ve upped and disappeared on her.”

“I can’t help it,” Clark returned. “Not when the people of Metropolis need my help.”

Bruce sighed and shook his head. “Clark, if you’re going to keep putting Metropolis ahead of Lois, your relationship is never going to work. We’ve warned you before about that. You might be Superman, but you cannot be everywhere at once.”

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned by being with Chloe, it’s that sometimes you have to take a step back from your duty and take time for yourself. You might have been born on another planet, but you were raised human. You have to make a choice, Clark. Before Lois makes it for you. Trust me, she’s not the forgiving type.”

He sighed. Both Bruce and his brother were right, he thought. 

He tried calling Lois but she either wouldn’t pick up or was busy. When he returned to work at the Daily Planet on Monday, she wasn’t in her office. He tried to concentrate on his own work but couldn’t focus, wondering if she was ignoring him on purpose. 

He was surprised when, later that day, she walked into his office. 

“Sorry,” she said. “I’ve been chasing up a few leads on a story I’ve been working on and I missed your calls.”

Her smile was too bright to be genuine, but Clark let it go. 

“Uh, about the other night,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

She dismissed it with a wave of her hand. “I get it. Things got a little too intense. I mean, maybe we’re just not ready for that step yet. What did happen? I mean, obviously you had a change of heart. What did you do?”

“Oh, I, uh, went out for some air,” he said.

“You walked the streets for over two hours?” she asked, her expression sceptical. 

He shrugged. “Yeah, well …” He trailed off, not really knowing how to answer. 

He was surprised when she appeared to brush it off. 

“Oh, well, you do what you gotta do. So, um, anyway, I’ve got this story I’m working on, but if you want to meet up later in the week for dinner, I’m game.”

He smiled uncertainly at her. “Sure. Uh, how about Friday? I’d make it sooner, but I have to go to Star City for a board meeting.” He made a face. Lois knew he hated board meetings, finding them extremely boring. 

It wasn’t a total lie. He did have to go to a board meeting but it would be a short one. Oliver had asked for a formal meeting of the Justice League before they left for Star City. 

Lois nodded. She stepped forward and kissed his cheek. 

“Have fun at your board meeting,” she said. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“Lois, there is nothing you wouldn’t do,” he returned, unable to resist teasing her a little. 

She shot him a mock glare. “Watch it, Queen. I know where you live!”

He laughed and shooed her out. He sat back in his chair, breathing a sigh of relief. Lois at least wasn’t too angry with him. 

Chloe looked a little confused when he told her on the plane to Star City.

“Lois? We are talking about Mad Dog Lane here,” she said. “She never lets anything go.”

He shrugged. “Well, maybe she thought I felt the same way she did when she ran out of my office that time.”

His brother’s wife shook her head. “I don’t know. That’s not the Lois I know.”

Oliver came out of the other cabin with Conner.

“Honey, let it go. At least Clark is off the hook for the time being.”

“You still need to tell her the truth, sweetheart,” his mother reminded him gently. “It’s not fair on her if you keep up these disappearing acts.”

She was right. He just had no idea how to broach the subject.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did something a little different with this chapter. As for the revelation, I tried for something original. 
> 
> The song I mention is one by Pink. I was introduced to it by gem6519. It's pretty much what every relationship is about - there are times when you want to hug your S.O. (or relative) and times when you want to throttle them.


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois has some thinking to do

Lois had not been completely truthful with Clark, but then again, she felt at least a little justified in lying to him. After all, the man had been lying to her from the moment they’d met. No, before they’d met.

She had spent most of her weekend following her discovery researching everything she could find about Superman. Especially any earlier incidents that hadn’t been credited to him. She even did some digging into Green Arrow and found that the stories about Green Arrow had begun to appear a few weeks after Oliver had returned from the island. 

She had wondered if Chloe had done the same research and come to the same conclusion. If anything, her cousin had been even nosier than she was. As soon as Lois began cross-checking any stories in gossip columns about Oliver being in Metropolis, around the same time he had Chloe had been dating, she found stories about Green Arrow. 

“I should have known,” she told herself. 

She remembered something Jack Kent had told her about Smallville and met him for lunch that Monday. 

He seemed a little concerned.

“Is everything okay with you and Clark?” he asked.

“It’s fine,” she said. “I just needed to know something.”

When she had told Jack she and Clark were dating, he had been philosophical. He’d sensed all along that she had only gone out with him because Clark hadn’t asked her out first and he’d never really considered them as seriously dating. 

“Okay. Sounds cryptic but I’ll bite.”

“You once told me that story about that football coach. Were there any other weird incidents in Smallville?”

Jack grinned. 

“Which time? There were a lot of them. Most people thought all the weird stuff that happened was because of Luthorcorp, or LexCorp as it is now, but there was this kid who thought the meteor shower was responsible.”

“The meteors? Why?”

“Well, because some people started developing these weird abilities.” Jack related a few of the incidents and described some of the abilities people could get. There had been a girl who had been born with soft bone disease who could morph into anyone. Then there had been a girl who was able to teleport anywhere she wanted to go. Both girls had developed unhealthy obsessions which had seen them committed to Belle Reve, a psychiatric institution just on the outskirts of the city. 

Then there was the boy who had somehow developed an ability to manipulate metal, like a magnet. Or another boy who could see people’s futures. 

She frowned, remembering some of her research into Lex’s pet projects had uncovered that the billionaire was using meteor rock in his experiments. Or rather, his scientists were. 

“Was Clark around for some of these incidents?” she asked. 

“Yeah, he was. He usually spent summers on the farm. Why?”

“Oh, nothing. Just curious.”

He studied her for a moment. “Why the questions, Lois? Are you working on a story?”

“Sort of. I ran into Superman the other day. Well, kind of. I mean, not really.”

“Which is it?” the farmboy asked, looking amused.

“He didn’t even know I was there. It just looked like he was in trouble, that’s all.”

“I don’t follow.”

She sighed and finished her coffee. “It’s just that … well, how much do we really know about Superman?”

Jack shrugged. “You’d probably know more than I would, since you write about him.”

“Yeah, but he seems so, I don’t know. Removed from everyone else.”

“Well, sure. I mean, he’s a superhero.”

“That’s not what I meant. I talked to him once. Well, I asked him some questions about his personal life and he told me that it was better that people didn’t know too much about him.”

Jack nodded. “Yeah, I get that. I mean, think about it. If you were like a superhero and you had a family, wouldn’t you want to protect them?”

She chewed on her lip. “I guess if people knew who he really was, his enemies might decide to go after his family.”

She thought about it over the next few days. Clark hadn’t returned from Star City and she hadn’t talked to him since Monday. 

As much as she wanted to be angry at him for not telling her the truth, she realised that in many ways he was afraid. Not just because of what she’d talked about with Jack, but also because he thought she might not accept him. From the little she’d gleaned from her research, Lois realised that Clark was not just an ordinary guy with a slew of abilities taken from meteor rock. 

From what she had seen of Superman, he had super speed, super strength, various optical powers and the ability to freeze something with his breath and could fly. 

She realised that there was no possible way Clark could have got all his abilities from the rock. For one thing, most people changed by the meteors only got one or two abilities at the most. For another, Clark had seemed to be in intense pain that day in the warehouse. Yet he’d begun to recover almost the moment he was far enough away from the rock.

She’d managed to find a scientist who had once worked for LexCorp. He’d studied the meteor rock in detail and had described exactly the substance Lois had seen in the warehouse. He’d also told her it emitted a low dose of radiation. Maybe it didn’t account for the metabolic changes in people, since he thought it was low enough to be completely harmless but that didn’t change the fact that it did. 

The one thing Lois took away from her conversation with the scientist was that if the meteor rock caused Clark pain, but didn’t affect humans that way, then her boyfriend was not human.

She’d tossed and turned the night she’d come to that realisation wondering if she could really be with someone who was literally out of this world. It took her a long time to get to sleep. 

The night before she was supposed to go to dinner with Clark, her roommate decided to watch a movie on Netflix. It was a story about an interracial couple falling in love and dealing with prejudice over their differences. The script was not that great, but the plot made Lois realise that she was possibly judging Clark for where he came from, rather than for his character. After all, she’d begun falling for him long before she’d even known he was Superman. 

She came to the conclusion that night that she needed to give him time to tell her the truth, as well as give herself time to really learn who he was. 

The next day she ran into him on her way to her office. 

“Hey,” he said, falling into step with her as she made her way up the stairs.

“How was Star City?”

He shrugged. “It was okay. Board meetings, you know.”

She smiled. Her first year on her college newspaper she had been forced to attend meetings of the university board and those had been equally boring. 

“Yeah. I hated going to them when I was covering them for the college paper. Snooze fests.”

Clark groaned. “Yeah, me too. I think it’s like a rite of passage. Like you’re not a reporter until you’ve suffered through one of them.” He made a face.

Lois laughed. “You’re not wrong.”

Her boyfriend scratched his nose. “So, um, I should get to my office, but … are we still on for tonight?”

She nodded. “Of course. Where did you have in mind?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Mazzoni’s maybe?”

She grinned. “I love Italian. I spent a few months there when my dad was stationed in Vicenza. I was about twelve, I think. I really fell in love with the cuisine.”

“You know, I never really asked you about that. Where else did you go?”

“My dad once told me they were in Russia when my mom told him she was pregnant with me. We spent about a year or so in Germany. Mostly we just moved around a lot of the bases here in the States. I used to hate it though. I mean, I’d start at one school, make some friends after a few months and then we’d be moving again.”

“It must have been hard for you,” he said sympathetically. “Sort of making you feel like you’re forever trying to fit in. It must have been lonely.”

“Yeah, it was.”

She was dying to ask him what it was like growing up with his abilities, knowing there was probably no one else like him in the world, but she kept silent. He had to tell her in his own good time. 

During the few days he’d been away, she’d thought a lot about their situation. She’d come to the realisation that, of the people who knew him, she was probably the most likely to understand that feeling of not fitting in. That feeling of alienation, for want of a better word. Having been moved around from base to base, never staying long enough to form lasting friendships, she had had difficulties in every new school. She knew of other army brats who had gone through the same thing. Most of them tended to keep their heads down and not make waves. She had decided she could either do the same and spend whatever time she had making no friends whatsoever, or she could do the opposite.

It was one of the reasons she had started smoking. The kids who smoked seemed to be in a clique all their own, and appeared to know almost everything that went on at their school. Part of it, of course, had been a rebellion against her father, but the other part had just been that desire to belong. Even if smoking had meant her clothes always stunk.

It had all pretty much backfired anyway, she thought, since the General had ignored her and most of the ‘in crowd’ did the same. She had quit after two years, hating herself for her weakness. If only her father had actually yelled at her instead of barely acknowledging her existence. 

Perry came down the stairs. “Oh, good. You’re here. I need to talk to you about these budget projections. Are you planning on cutting expense accounts?”

Clark sighed and shot Lois a put-upon look. “See you tonight?”

“Sure. Seven?”

“Sounds good.” He leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. “I’ll pick you up from your apartment.” He turned back to Perry.

“Now I’d like to know what in tarnation you’re doing cutting expenses.”

“Perry …”

Lois smiled and shook her head as the editor continued to harangue Clark as they made their way to the older man’s office. She continued up the stairs to her own office. 

After work, she searched through her closet looking for something appropriate to wear. Mazzoni’s was a four-star restaurant and she knew she couldn’t exactly go in casual wear. It didn’t require formal dress either but she figured she could at least wear something designed to show Clark exactly what he’d been missing the other night. 

Her roommate knocked on her bedroom door.

“Going out, dear?” she asked.

Lois nodded. “Yeah. Dinner with Clark.”

“Oh, I like him. He’s lovely. Is that what you’re wearing?” she asked, nodding her head to the shift dress Lois had pulled out of the closet.

“Uh, I don’t know. I mean, we’re going to an Italian restaurant.”

“Oh no, dear, that’s not right at all.” She went to peruse the contents of the closet. Lois was half expecting her to pull out something conservative but instead she picked out a sleeveless dress in a dark red. The hemline came to just above her knees. Not too short to be indecent and not so long that it was conservative.

Dot held the dress up to her. “Yes, I think that will be perfect. The colour is wonderful with your skin tone. And it will show off that lovely figure of yours.” She handed Lois the dress on its hanger. “Will you be staying overnight?”

“Uh, I don’t know. I guess we’ll wait and see.” She smiled at the older woman, who returned the smile, telling her not to forget her key. 

Lois turned away to finish getting ready, noting on her phone that it was almost seven. She tended to get caught up in work and wasn’t always punctual but tonight she wanted to be on time, or as close to it as she could get.

She had just finished getting dressed when she heard Clark’s voice talking to Dot in the living room. She put on her shoes and grabbed her bag, going out to join them. Her roommate smiled at her.

“There she is. Doesn’t she look lovely, Clark?”

He cleared his throat. “Yeah, she does.” The expression on his face told her he was enjoying the view. 

“We should go,” she said. “Goodnight, Dot.”

“Goodnight, dear. Enjoy your evening.”

Mazzoni’s was busy for a Friday night. Clark told her he had called ahead and made sure there would be a table for them. He didn’t like throwing his weight around, unlike some others Lois could name. She had once been in a restaurant where she had witnessed one of the city’s prominent citizens treating the server like dirt. She was glad Clark wasn’t like that.

They ordered a glass of wine each and sat drinking while they waited for their dinners to cook. Clark looked a little nervous.

“Last weekend, I …”

She put a hand on his. “You don’t need to explain,” she said. “Like I said the other day, I get it. Maybe things were moving a little too fast for both of us.”

He looked as if he wanted to say more, but didn’t comment. Lois leaned forward.

“There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you,” she said. 

“About?”

“When Chloe and Oliver got married, why weren’t you at their wedding?”

“I was out of the country,” he said. “Actually, I was stranded. That’s why I couldn’t get back in time.”

“Stranded?”

He nodded. “I was volunteering on a project near the Arctic. We got snowed in.”

Well, that sounded logical, she thought. 

“Believe me,” he continued, “I wouldn’t have missed my brother’s wedding for the world.”

“You and Ollie are really close, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. He’s never treated me any differently just because I was adopted.”

“How did that happen, anyway?”

“My parents were in Smallville. They found me wandering after the meteor shower.”

“Did you ever look for your birth parents?” she asked.

“I did. I guess every adopted child gets curious at some point about where they came from and I was no different. I found out they died before my parents found me.”

“That’s so sad,” she said, squeezing his hand. 

“I was lucky,” he told her. “Robert and Moira were great parents. I mean, they might have been rich but they never let us get away with anything. They were strict but it was always out of love.”

“Sometimes I think that if my mom was still alive, my dad and I would be a lot closer.”

“I’m sorry,” he said. 

She shrugged. “Meh, it’s his loss.”

He smiled. “It’s definitely his loss if he can’t see you for the amazing person you are.”

Lois felt herself blushing at the compliment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have always felt that Lois is a lot more astute than the show gave her credit for and it seemed natural to me that she would come to the logical conclusion she does in this chapter.


	30. Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark is annoyed by some gossip

Clark didn’t normally attend staff meetings but since the Planet’s future had been one of the subjects of discussion at the Queen Industries board meeting, he had some announcements to make.

He tried to concentrate on what he was saying in the company-wide meeting, but couldn’t help noticing the chatter going on, especially among the reporters. He saw Cat Grant and Jeff Hage both shooting knowing looks at Lois. Given that Cat was known as a bit of a gossip, he wondered if she’d heard something about Lois.

He found it irritating that practically every move he made was under scrutiny. It was hard enough keeping his identity as Superman under wraps, especially given that he was constantly watched by Paparazzi, but now Lois was being subjected to the same sort of scrutiny.

After dinner the other night they’d decided to go for a walk in the park. It had been dark but the area was well lit and Lois didn’t appear to mind. Clark, however, had been annoyed when a photographer had practically leaped out of the bushes to take their picture. It was not as if they had been doing anything special. Just out walking.

He left the meeting feeling more than a little perturbed by the continued murmurs among the editorial staff. When he entered his office, he decided to do some searching online to see if anything had come of the photograph. He had only just begun his search when there was a knock on his door.

Lois came in. “Hi,” she said.

“Hey. How was the rest of your weekend?”

They’d spent the day together on the Saturday just hanging out. Clark had taken her to a football game and the rest of the day they’d sat talking in a café. Sunday Lois had told him she needed to do some laundry and house-cleaning. As messy as she usually was, having a roommate meant she had to help her with the cleaning.

“Oh, you know, just cleaning. Uh, have you seen Abby Fisher’s column?”

He frowned at her. “No. Why?”

“It’s online.” She gave him the website address and pulled up a chair to sit next to him.

Clark accessed the site.

_More Than Just Pillow Talk_

_Rumour has it Clark Queen and his ‘star reporter’ Lois Lane are getting rather close, if you take my meaning. The couple, who just six months ago, denied they were dating, have been seen out and about and looking very intimate._

_Last week they were seen together at the Metropolis Hotel for the Children’s Heart Charity dinner and a source tells me they were getting very ‘hot and bothered’ on the ride to Queen Tower._

_I’ve always wondered how an investigative reporter like Lane always managed to get exclusives and given her ‘connections’ I wouldn’t be surprised if those exclusives were obtained between-the-sheets._

_I have to wonder how long they’ve actually known each other since Lane’s cousin is married to Queen’s brother, namely Oliver Queen. It seems rather odd that Lane and Queen only met six months ago._

_Queen moved to Metropolis two years ago, yet was curiously absent from his own brother’s wedding where Lane was maid of honour._

Clark was astute enough to read between-the-lines and he didn’t like the insinuations the columnist was making.

“Don’t read any more,” Lois told him quietly. “I just thought you needed a heads-up.”

“She’s insinuating …”

“I know, but remember what you told me before we went out on our first date? We can’t change the fact that you’re, you know, semi-famous and everything. You told me what to expect and it hasn’t changed how I feel. Yeah, it’s a nuisance and it’s really bad when people like this come out and imply stuff that we know isn’t true. The thing is, I also remember the advice you and your brother gave me when I got upset the first time it happened. Denying it just makes it worse.”

He turned to look at her. “Lois, I care about you. A lot. I just need to know if you’re prepared for all of this. Your life is pretty much going to be under a microscope.”

She caressed his cheek before leaning forward to kiss him.

“I don’t care,” she said. “I can handle the gossip. I can handle being under a microscope. I know the truth about us and the people who care about us will know it too. They’re all that matters.”

He still had some concerns. Especially when it came to the staff. Lois shrugged philosophically.

“When it comes to people like Cat and Jeff, they can say what they like. It doesn’t change anything.”

“Sure, but gossiping behind our backs …”

“What are you going to do? Threaten to fire them because they talk over the lousy coffee in the bullpen?”

“Well, no,” he conceded. “Wait, the coffee is really that lousy in the bullpen?”

She laughed at him. “That’s what you took from that? Yes, the coffee is terrible.” She shrugged her shoulders again. “Hey, it’s what keeps them motivated to get out of the bullpen.”

“That’s not the only reason to seek promotion,” he admonished her.

She snickered. “Maybe not, but it sure makes one hell of an incentive.”

He shook his head and sighed. “You are one of a kind, Lois Lane.”

She leaned over to bump shoulders with him. “Don’t you know they broke the mould when they made me?”

“They did something with it, that’s for sure.”

“Oh, you love me!” she retorted.

He looked long and hard at her, wanting to kiss that smirk off her face. The smile slowly disappeared and her eyes danced to and fro. He started to lean forward, but she pulled away.

“We shouldn’t. What if somebody comes in?”

“I don’t care,” he declared. It was his office and if he wanted to show his feelings for the woman he was falling in love with, then anyone with any objections could go to blazes.

He kissed her, twisting his body a little so he could pull her closer. She wrapped her arms around his neck, letting him take the kiss deeper. He felt almost as if he was under a spell as he continued to kiss her.

“Ahem!”

He looked around, startled to see his assistant in the office.

“Yes, Amanda?”

“Perry’s waiting to see you.”

Damn! He’d forgotten he had a meeting with the editor-in-chief.

“Right. Sorry.”

The dusky skinned woman nodded. “I did knock.”

Lois blushed. “I should go anyway,” she said quietly. “Do you want to meet for lunch?”

Clark sighed. “I can’t. I have a lunch meeting with Bruce Wayne uptown. Raincheck?”

She smiled. “I’ll hold you to that.”

She got up, pushing the chair back to its original place and walked out, giving Amanda a quick smile. The African-American woman smiled back at her and began to follow her to the door. She turned to look at Clark.

“For what it’s worth, I think you two are great together. Who cares what some gossip says about you? It’s your life and I can see that you’re happy.”

He frowned at her. “You read the gossip columns?”

“Not really,” she said. “My husband sent me a link because it was about you.” She rolled her eyes. “I swear when they were handing out brains he was behind the door. I barely skimmed the post. I did hear Cat Grant talking about you two in the meeting rather than actually listening to what you had to say. You’d think she was writing the society column instead of doing any actual reporting.”

Clark sat back in his chair as his assistant left his office. Perry entered a minute later holding a sheaf of papers.

“Right, Kid, let’s talk about these changes you are planning on making.”

The meeting took a little over two hours, leaving Clark with about a five minute gap before he had to leave for his meeting with Bruce. He decided to wander downstairs to the basement.

Cat appeared to be holding court. While she had a reputation for being quite perky, some found her a little too irritating. Clark hadn’t known her very long but had never thought she could actually be thoughtless. The reporter was up for a promotion to Lois’ old desk, since Lois had been promoted by Perry to the eighth floor just after Christmas.

“You know, I bet she slept with him to get that promotion,” Cat was saying. “It’s not like she’s, you know, a good reporter, or anything.”

Clark scowled. He didn’t have time to confront the blonde on her insinuations. He left for his meeting with Bruce.

His friend was sympathetic when he heard about the gossip column. “That’s why I let people think I’m nothing but an empty-headed playboy. You’re too serious, Clark.”

He shook his head. “You know I have to be. I just can’t stand it when people make up things about me.”

“Lois knows better than anyone how the media can twist things,” the Gotham billionaire replied. “And she’s right. What are you going to do? Fire the people who gossip behind your back? Sue this gossip columnist? Sure, it’s wrong but it’s hardly damaging your reputation, is it?”

“I guess not.”

His friend smiled. “Look, relax. The hype will die down eventually. As soon as the press see that you’re just a normal, boring couple, they’ll lose interest.”

“I hope you’re right.”

When he returned to the Planet later that afternoon, he pulled Cat Grant’s personnel record. He was surprised to learn that she had actually changed her name to escape an abusive ex-husband. While he had some sympathy for the woman’s plight, he was still not happy at the way she was talking about him.

He went out to the outer office.

“Amanda, could you get Cat Grant up here please?”

She sent him an odd look, but nodded. He went back into his own office and sat down, turning to his computer to check his emails. The reporter came up five minutes later.

“Uh, you wanted to see me, sir?” she said.

“Sit down,” he told her firmly. He glanced again at his screen, pretending to read an email that he’d already read thoroughly, figuring the blonde would start fidgeting the longer he was silent. Sure enough, within a minute or so she began crossing and uncrossing her legs.

He finally turned to her.

“How long have you been here?” he asked.

Her eyes widened as she stared at him. “Do you mean here in this office?”

“At the Planet.” Of course, he knew, since the date she had started at the Planet was in her file.

“Uh, two years. No, three, I guess. Coming up three.”

“Do you think you’re a good reporter, Ms Grant?”

“Yes. I used to work for the …”

“I don’t need to know your resume,” he snapped. “If I wanted that, it would be here in your file!”

“Uh …” She looked flustered. “What is this about?” He stayed silent for a few moments, letting her stew.

“You know, I read this interesting blog the other day. About how journalists are just glorified gossipers. Do you believe that’s true?”

“I … I don’t know,” she said, turning bright red. “I don’t think so. I mean, we write the news. About … uh, about stuff that happens.”

“So tell me, Ms Grant, what gives you the right to make insinuations about my relationship with Lois Lane? Let me see if I can paraphrase this correctly. About how the only reason she was promoted to the eighth floor is that she was sleeping with me.”

How was it possible the woman’s face had gone from bright red to almost purple?

“That wasn’t …”

“Is that what you said?” he asked.

“I didn’t …”

“If you’re so interested in gossip, Ms Grant, then perhaps you would be better suited to working on the society column, rather than news reporting.”

She immediately went on the defensive. “You know, I may have kept my youthful good looks but I wasn’t born yesterday. If you’re mad at me, fine, but you should know I’m not the only one saying it. Lois Lane gets special treatment because you’re dating her.”

“I would tread very carefully, Cat,” he returned. “You are coming very close to insubordination.”

“It’s not … you don’t understand.”

“Then how about you explain it to me. On second thought, let’s not and say we did. I make very few of the personnel decisions and Lois’ promotion was not my decision. The fact that it was a well-deserved promotion has little to do with my relationship with her.”

She chewed on her lower lip. “I’m sorry, I just …”

“For your information, Lois and I did not officially start dating until after New Year’s. Her promotion had already been decided by then.”

“I’m really … I …” She sank down in her chair, looking completely mortified.

“I understand you are up for promotion to Lois’ old desk,” he said. “I would suggest you examine your conduct very thoroughly, Ms Grant. Like I said, I make very few of the personnel decisions and I will not be mentioning this discussion to the review board.”

She brightened. “Oh, thank you, so much, Mr Queen,” she gushed. “I’m so sorry, I …” Clark held up a hand.

“In future, I would suggest you be more discerning about what you read. I realise my relationship with Miss Lane is a hot topic around here but I will not tolerate my staff spreading malicious gossip. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir,” she said, nodding.

He dismissed her with a nod of his own. She quickly rose from her chair and practically ran out the door. He had barely turned back to his own work when Lois came in. She had a huge grin on her face.

“While I appreciate you defending me, I can look after myself, you know.” He frowned at her. “Cat Grant has practically had it in for me since the day she started at the Planet. We were both up for the promotion to the fourth floor at the same time,” Lois explained. “Little Miss Overachiever there was determined to get an exclusive and tried to steal a story from me. She’s hated me ever since.”

“I would rather avoid any cat-fights between you two,” he said.

She chuckled. “Nice one, Queen, but while you may be the boss of this newspaper, you still don’t need to go into bat for me with my colleagues.”

“Ahh, sue me,” he said.

“Hmm, no, I won’t do that. I’d rather do something else instead.”

He waited, wondering what she was going to do. She leaned over the desk and planted a hot kiss on his lips. He pulled her into his lap, kissing her deeply, leaving them both flushed with desire.

He really wished he hadn’t heard those sirens go off the other night. He had wanted nothing more than to take her to bed and make love to her. If they were alone, he wouldn’t have hesitated to pick her up and carry her over to the couch, strip her naked and …

Lois pulled away slightly and put a finger on his lips.

“Hold that thought,” she said.

He held back a whimper as she got off his lap and sauntered to the door, giving him a good view of her shapely butt in the pencil skirt she was wearing. She turned from the door and sent him a look of longing before walking out.


	31. Chapter 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois has a visitor

Lois was surprised to get a call from the receptionist downstairs to say she had a visitor. Ever since the incident with Trax, Clark had had installed various security systems, including a card reader to ensure that no unauthorised visitors were allowed in. Instead, they had to sign in with the receptionist and wait for whoever it was they were visiting.

She had to smile at her boyfriend’s protectiveness. There were times when he seemed to be a little too over-protective, but she could understand it. They’d been dating almost six months now and they were still occasionally chased by the Paparazzi. The media frenzy had died down somewhat, but every time they had to go to an important social event, there would be items in the society columns the next day.

Like the movie premiere they’d gone to just the week before, she thought. It had been a sequel to a movie that Lois had discovered to her surprise that it had been filmed at the Kent farm a few years earlier. She was not a fan of the Warrior Angel comics franchise but since the Queens had helped the production company get off the ground, Clark had been invited to the premiere. 

What she had also learned was that the first movie’s female star, Rachel Davenport, had come very close to dying when the production assistant, objecting to the movie’s interpretation of her character, had tried to kill her. While Lois had had trouble finding out exactly what had happened, she guessed Clark had had something to do with it. Jack was keeping Mum about it and she couldn’t exactly ask her boyfriend, since he still didn’t know that she knew his secret identity. 

A photo had appeared in all the society columns the next day, but at least there had been less hype over it. 

The internal gossip had died down considerably. After Clark had roasted Cat over her gossiping, she had shut up like a clam and didn’t so much as pass on a whisper. It hadn’t changed her attitude with Lois, but she had at least backed off. 

“Miss Lane?” The receptionist was obviously waiting for her answer.

“Sorry, lost in thought there. Uh, who’s here to see me?”

“It’s General Sam Lane,” the woman replied. 

Had she been sitting down, she would have fallen off her chair in utter shock. The last time she had had any sort of communication from her father was when she had sent him a card and a gift voucher for his birthday in March. He’d sent her a text message with a brief: ‘Thanks.’

She hurried downstairs to the first floor, not quite able to believe that the man was actually in Metropolis. She stopped on the last stair, watching through the glass door separating her from the man who had in many ways been the bane of her teenage years. 

He had changed little. He had always been stocky and was now slightly barrel-chested. While she had never really thought of her father as ‘handsome’, he’d always been a striking sort of man. Now aged 60, he was even more so, although his skin was beginning to show the result of damage from too much time in the sun and smoking too many cigars.

He was at least in civilian clothes instead of his usual military garb, although the fact that he had given his name as ‘General Lane’ to the receptionist spoke volumes. 

Lois released the door and opened it.

“Dad?”

He had been studying some of the front pages they had displayed in the lobby, but turned and looked at her. His expression was neutral. 

“Lois.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Can’t a father come to see his own daughter?” he enquired, sounding a little too curt. 

She wanted to say something about the fact that they had barely said a word to each other in five years, other than exchanging greeting cards, but she stayed silent.

“Are you free for lunch?” he asked. “Or will you be having lunch with that new boyfriend of yours?”

The answer as to why he was here became suddenly very clear. He had always been quite tough on her boyfriends in the past, testing her feelings for them by subjecting them to an interrogation. Lois had been onto his game for years but had never said a word. She had decided there was very little point, since the man was going to do what he was going to do and damn the consequences.

“Uh, yeah, we were going to have lunch together, but I can cancel. I’m sure he’ll …”

“No, no, I would like to meet this young man of yours.”

Lois bit her lip. She hadn’t talked much about her father, but Clark knew her relationship with the general had been strained. 

“Okay,” she said. She glanced at the digital clock above the desk. It was almost lunchtime now. “I’ll just give him a call.”

She went around the desk and used the spare phone to call upstairs. Clark answered immediately.

“Clark Queen.”

“Hey, sorry, it’s me. I’m downstairs in the lobby.” She could tell he was smiling by the way he responded.

“Lois, I was just thinking about where we should go for lunch.”

“Yeah, that’s what I was calling about. My dad’s here.”

She heard a sharp intake of breath. “Your father?” Clark said, sounding shocked. Her voice trembled a little as she answered his unspoken query. 

“He wants to meet you.”

“I’ll be right down.”

That was one thing she loved about him the most. She didn’t have to tell him she needed him. He knew anyway. 

She didn’t expect him to fly down and wasn’t surprised when it took him about five minutes to join them. Her father looked at Clark with a critical expression but didn’t comment. 

“It’s good to meet you, sir,” Clark said politely. “Lois has told me a lot about you.”

“Has she,” the general replied brusquely. “Well, I know almost nothing about you, apart from what I’ve read in those magazines.”

Oh, great, Lois thought with a sigh. This was going to be swell.

Clark suggested a restaurant a couple of blocks from the Planet. It was relatively inexpensive, considering. The older man raised an eyebrow. 

“You think I can’t afford to buy my daughter and her … boyfriend lunch?”

Lois chewed on her lower lip as Clark fidgeted. 

“No, sir, but I thought … Perhaps you would like to suggest a place?”

The general smiled suddenly. It was a smile Lois knew only too well, reserved for those he had decided were the enemy. He’d used it before on his superior officers when they’d given him an order he hadn’t agreed with. 

“No, no, I’m sure you know Lois’ tastes better than I do,” he said. “Considering I haven’t seen my daughter in a few years.”

“Daddy, let’s not start,” she said, taking her father’s arm. “The restaurant is fine. It’s close to the Planet. It’s not like I can actually take long lunches.”

“Why not?” the general asked. “If your boyfriend happens to be the publisher …” he added with a glare in Clark’s direction. 

“I don’t ask for special treatment just because his family owns the paper,” she told him with an apologetic look at Clark. 

The restaurant was thankfully not too busy and they were able to be seated in a booth in a quiet corner. It wasn’t long before the general began interrogating Clark.

“So, Queen, what exactly are you doing with my daughter?”

“I’m not sure I follow, sir.”

“What are your plans?”

Lois sighed. “We haven’t exactly discussed that far ahead,” she told him. They hadn’t even said the ‘L’ word yet. Or even slept together. 

After that first disastrous attempt, she had decided to hold off sleeping with him, figuring eventually he would find some way to broach the subject. Clark still disappeared on their dates and would return looking as a little wind-blown, as if he’d flown off somewhere. She’d made a point of checking the newsfeeds on social media for any reports of Superman’s activities and knew exactly where he had been. Yet he’d always offered up some lame excuse, obviously thinking there was no way she could possibly know what he was really doing.

“Why not?” her father responded, in the same tone he’d always used when she’d presented him with her grades. It had always been as if nothing was ever good enough. If she got a B, he wondered why she didn’t get an A. If she scored a 90 on a test, he’d ask why she didn’t get 100. 

She had often wondered how he would have behaved toward her if she had been a boy. They’d fought about it once. She’d come right out and asked him if he’d wished she were a boy and he’d shot back that a boy would have been far less trouble. At least he could have had a son shipped off to military school if he didn’t behave. It wasn’t like he couldn’t have done the same to her, but in many ways her father was something of a chauvinist. 

“We’re just taking our time, sir,” Clark said. 

“I see!” It was clear he didn’t. 

Lois tried to steer the conversation to another subject but the general wasn’t having it. He continued to interrogate Clark, practically ignoring her in favour of discovering exactly who this man was she was dating without his prior approval. She sighed. She was twenty-six, twenty-seven in two months, and she didn’t need the old man’s approval. 

“So tell me, Clark, your family owns this newspaper. That right?”

“Yes sir.”

“So that makes you her boss.”

“Technically speaking, yes. I oversee all operations, but Lois’ direct boss …”

“Wouldn’t you call that a conflict of interest? You two dating?”

“Why would you?” Lois asked. “Clark doesn’t tell me what stories to write and he doesn’t need to approve my copy.”

“I was asking your boyfriend,” he replied with a sideways look at her.

What am I, chopped liver? she wanted to say. Clark glanced at her and squeezed her hand under the table. 

“Sir, I know where you’re going with this. Some might question our relationship thinking Lois gets special treatment because of it. I have been very clear from the start that I make very few of the editorial decisions, and any hiring and firing is done by the department heads and a review board. They send their recommendations to me and I sign off on them. I may question their decisions from time to time but that is as far as my input goes.”

“So you’re just … what? A figurehead?”

“If you’d like to see it that way, I suppose I am. Believe me, I have enough to do with keeping things running. I don’t need to be bothered with decisions which can be easily handled at departmental level.”

Lois looked at her father. He seemed placated a little by that.

“So, what about this Superman?”

“What about him?” Clark asked.

“Your paper seems to cover him a lot.”

“The Daily Planet is a major metropolitan newspaper. Why shouldn’t it cover someone like Superman?”

“Don’t you think the paper is a little biased?”

“Hardly. Our editors ensure stories are fair and well-balanced and there has been some criticism of Superman.”

Lois nodded her agreement. As much as she supported her boyfriend’s alter ego, she knew she couldn’t ignore the criticism he often received. Especially when it came to property damage. There had been one a few months ago where he had been helping evacuate people in Paris after a suspected terrorist attack at an historic site. A valuable artwork had been smashed when he’d sped in and members of the local historical society took him to task over it. Never mind that the artwork would have no doubt been destroyed anyway when a fire broke out. 

“I’m not sure I like all these so-called superheroes flying around messing in other people’s business as if it is their God-given right.”

“Not all of them fly, Daddy,” she said. 

“What would you suggest, sir? That they answer only to the government?”

“Well, why not? If the boys in the military can do it, why can’t they?”

“Because I don’t think that’s what they believe in. I know for a fact Superman chooses not to get involved in conflicts like those in Syria or Afghanistan.”

“Yet you’re perfectly content with him playing God.”

“Superman isn’t here to get involved in politics, sir.”

“So you’re happy with letting him take the law into his own hands, dictating how we lesser mortals should conduct ourselves.”

Oh boy, the general was really winding up for the big pitch, she thought. 

Clark suddenly stood up. “I’m sorry. I have another meeting I have to get to.”

Lois was glad she knew his secret otherwise she would have thought Clark’s sudden decision to leave the restaurant was because he’d had enough of her father’s attacks on Superman. 

The general looked taken aback. “I wasn’t finished,” he complained. 

Clark shook his head. “I’m very sorry.” He bent down to give Lois a quick kiss on the mouth. “I’ll call you later, okay?”

She nodded, turning her head to watch him leave. Her father glared at her. 

“That’s the man you’re dating?” he said with a growl.

“No, Dad. That’s the man I intend to marry, if he’ll have me. Given the way you’ve been attacking him, I wouldn’t be surprised if he decides to run a mile in the other direction.”

“Lois …”

She raised a hand. “No, Dad. Look, I love you, but right now, I really don’t like you. If you want to be part of my life, then you’ll apologise to Clark. I’m going to tell it to you straight. I love Clark and I plan to spend the rest of my life with him. If that’s not good enough for you, then I’m sorry.” 

She threw down her napkin and got up, walking out of the restaurant without another look back. 

As soon as she got back to the office, she closed the door. Normally she refused to give in to weakness but the tears began to fall. She was barely aware of someone else entering the office until she felt strong arms around her. 

“It’s okay,” Clark said softly. “I’m here.”

She cried in his arms, comforted by his presence. It was a long time before she felt able to look at him.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“For what?”

“If you don’t want to see me anymore, I’d understand.”

He held her. “Lois, you are not your father. If he chooses to behave that way, it’s his problem, not yours. I didn’t fall in love with you because you’re Sam Lane’s daughter. I fell in love with you because you’re beautiful, brilliant and the gutsiest woman I know.”

She looked up at him, her eyes still watery. “You love me?”

He grinned. “That’s what you took from that?”

She chuckled, punching his shoulder. “I love you too, you big dork.”

“Hey, that’s not nice,” he said, poking her in the ribs. He knew she was ticklish there.

She tried poking him back, but it didn’t have the same effect. 

“That’s not going to work,” he replied. “I’m not ticklish.”

“I can still try,” she retorted. 

He caught her hands before she could try to find another spot. They pretended to wrestle for a few moments, sinking down on the couch, laughing. 

They sat together, arms around each other. Lois sighed.

“I’m sorry about my dad. Especially about the way he was attacking Superman.”

It was Clark’s turn to sigh. “It’s not as if he isn’t alone, Lois.”

“Still, I think Superman would not be happy at being attacked like that.” She looked up at him. “You know, maybe somebody should do an editorial. Like a rebuttal.”

“Like an interview?” he asked.

“Sure. I mean, maybe you could do it. As, you know, Jerome Kent. I bet Superman would talk to you.”

“I don’t know, Lois. What if somebody found out that I was S … uh, Jerome? Besides, I think it would be better coming from you.”

She ignored the slip, pretending she hadn’t noticed him doing it.

“People might think I’m biased,” she pointed out. She had, after all, written the majority of the Planet’s articles involving Superman and she’d been the first to get an exclusive with him when he’d first made himself known to the city.

He shook his head. “No. I’ve read your articles, Lois. Sometimes you push the envelope, but you make every effort to be fair and balanced in your reporting. You have integrity, which is more than I could say for some reporters.”

“You mean like that idiot Donner at the Inquisitor,” she said with a chuckle. Donner had been a thorn in her side ever since the Ace of Clubs. He’d written a few trashy articles which barely had a sliver of truth in them about their relationship. 

“Exactly.”

She shrugged. “It’ll probably never happen anyway. The rebuttal article, I mean. Superman never stays around long enough for me to ask him indepth questions.”

“You never know,” he said.


	32. Chapter 32

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe and Lois meet for dinner

Chloe looked forward to her dinners with her cousin whenever she was in town, or whenever Lois managed to visit Star City. Which wasn’t often.

It had been at least three months since the last time they’d managed to get together. Conner was now almost seven months old and she felt confident enough to leave him for a few hours with the nanny, or with her husband. Since Oliver was at a Justice League meeting, then going to dinner with his brother, she wasn’t expecting him back at the hotel until late.

Clark had insisted he was fine with them staying at the clocktower apartment, as they usually did when they were in town, but Oliver had again decided they would stay at the Lexor. Considering the stories that had been circulating in the gossip columns lately, he’d figured it was better that way so Clark and Lois could have the apartment to themselves.

Speaking of whom, Chloe thought as Lois came through the door of the restaurant. She was smiling, looking happier than when Chloe had seen her cousin almost a year earlier.

“Well, you look happy,” she said as she greeted the brunette.

“Ask me why,” Lois said.

Chloe glanced down at Lois’ hand, but her cousin shook her head.

“Uh-uh, not yet. I mean, I know the tabloids have us practically engaged already and swinging from the chandeliers …”

“Clark’s apartment doesn’t have chandeliers,” Chloe interjected.

“Funny,” Lois said with a smirk.

“Okay. I’ll bite. Why are you so happy?”

“I just scored an exclusive interview with Superman,” her cousin replied, grinning from ear to ear. Chloe frowned at her. An interview was nothing new.

“Didn’t you interview him when he first came to Metropolis?”

“Well, yeah, but this is different. This is him answering all those burning questions people have.”

“You mean like, where does he come from, does he have a family, that sort of thing?”

“No, not that. You know how you get certain people criticising every move Superman makes. Like if he makes one little mistake it’s an opportunity for them to condemn him? Well, I managed to sit down with him and get him to talk about it.”

Chloe was surprised, since Clark didn’t really like to talk about the issues he had with various critics. Lois must have been very persuasive.

“Wow, that’s great!”

Lois pulled out a couple of pages. “Go ahead, read it.”

Chloe skimmed the article, then read a few of the quotes.

_“I am not infallible,” Superman says. “Some people may feel that when you’re a superhero, there is no room for mistakes. That couldn’t be further from the truth.”_

_When I asked what he thought of various criticism over some of property damage that has resulted in his apprehension of certain criminals, Superman was apologetic._

_“Unfortunately, it happens. I do my best to ensure that innocent people do not get caught in the crossfire but I can’t always do the same for any structures nearby. I can only try to minimise the damage. Sadly, the criminals I fight against do not have the same respect.”_

_There have been others suggesting that Superman, and others in the Justice League, should be working for the government._

_“With all due respect, if we were to work for the government, we may be forced to intervene in affairs which we consider go against every principle the Justice League was formed to uphold. We are not politicians and we prefer not to get involved in civil disputes.”_

_When I asked him to elaborate a little more, he had this to say:_

_“If the government wanted to end a bitter conflict with another country quickly, asking me to use my abilities to end the dispute would be announcing that I am taking sides. While I live in the United States and follow its laws, I am here to guide all the people of Earth, not just one part of it. And I cannot take sides in a conflict where innocent people pay the price.”_

She looked up at her cousin. “That’s good!” Some of it she would change, if she was editing, but otherwise she liked what she had read.

“Told you.”

“What does Clark think of this?”

“He thinks it’s great,” Lois said. “I showed him the draft before I even sent it.”

Something in her cousin’s expression had Chloe wondering if there had been more to the conversation than the other woman was letting on.

“So, how are things with you and Clark?”

“Oh, they’re great,” she said. “I mean, he hasn’t popped the question yet, but …”

Chloe frowned. “What is he waiting for? You’ve been dating almost seven months.”

“I know, but he probably has a lot to consider, you know?”

She thought it was an odd thing to say, but let it slide and changed the subject.

“So, how did this interview come about?” she asked.

“Clark and I had lunch with my dad the other day,” her cousin replied. “And Dad started attacking Superman. I mean, he first started interrogating Clark, but then he accused Superman of taking the law into his own hands.”

“What did Clark say?”

***

“What could I say?” Clark said. “If I actually came out and said what I was really thinking he might have figured out I’m Superman. And Lois …”

They had been to dinner with Bruce and were just sitting in the living room of Clark’s apartment, talking.

Oliver frowned at his brother. “What about Lois? She still doesn’t know?”

Bruce smacked Clark lightly in the shoulder. “What the hell are you waiting for? Divine Intervention?”

“Exactly,” Oliver said, nodding. “I mean the two of you are practically engaged and she still doesn’t know the truth? When are you going to tell her, Clark? When the kids start flying around the house?”

“I don’t even know if I can have kids,” Clark returned. “And we haven’t exactly discussed that.”

“It’s not the point. Stop procrastinating and tell her. Don’t think she hasn’t noticed your sudden need to return a DVD or something.”

“Ever heard of Netflix?” Bruce interjected, snickering. Clark shot him a withering look.

“Look, Clark, you’re my little brother and I love you, but you’re being a moron. Lois isn’t stupid. You need to tell her the truth. Before she finds it out for herself.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“It doesn’t have to be that hard!” Oliver returned. “You’re the only one making it that way. When Chloe …”

“First, Chloe figured it out on her own. And second, you’re human!”

Oliver stared at his little brother. Even when they’d been kids, they had never let the little matter of Clark being born on another planet get in-between their relationship. He had never treated his brother any differently for it and it shocked him that Clark would bring it up in this way.

Clark clearly sensed he’d erred. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Then how did you mean it, Clark?”

“I just meant that Lois might change her mind about me when she finds out I wasn’t even born on this planet.”

“Has she given you any reason to?” Bruce asked logically.

“Well, no. I mean, this interview she wanted to do about Superman answering all that criticism, she went out of her way to be supportive.”

“Clark, I hate to say it, but it’s a little late to backpedal. You’re already crazy about her.”

Clark sighed. “I know. That’s why this is so hard. I mean it’s like when she hurts, I hurt.”

“That’s pretty much the definition of love,” Oliver told him.

“Let me get this straight. You love her so much you’re scared to tell her the truth in case she breaks your heart?” Bruce said.

“Well …”

The other man shook his head, sounding amused. “Kal, that is totally screwed-up, even for a human.”

“You have to tell her,” Oliver advised. “You’re never going to be able to share a life together if she doesn’t know who you are. You think it’s hard now? Think how much harder it would be if you suddenly had to leave in an intimate moment. She’s not going to understand.”

“I know, I know! I just … I don’t know how to tell her!”

Oliver put his hands on his brother’s shoulders. Clark was slightly taller than him but it wasn’t much of an effort.

“You want to know the best way to tell her? Just tell her. No fanfare, no …” He looked at Bruce.

“In other words, stop pussy-footing around!” the other man said.

Chloe seemed a little perturbed when he finally got back to the hotel. He said nothing to her until after they’d put Conner to bed.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

“It’s fine,” she said as she got ready for bed.

“Oh. How was dinner with Lois?”

“It was … interesting. Did you know she wrote an interview with Superman?”

“Yeah, Clark told me. He thought she wrote a good article.”

“Not that he’s biased or anything,” Chloe commented. “What I read, it is pretty good. She kept her personal feelings out of it.”

“Well, it’s not like she actually has any personal feelings for Superman,” he replied.

“It’s funny though,” Chloe said as they curled up together under the bedclothes. “Lately she’s been saying stuff about Superman that makes me think she does have feelings for him.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. It’s nothing I can really put my finger on, but just the way she says it. And then there was something she said tonight. I asked her about Clark and what he was waiting for and she said he ‘probably had a lot to consider’.”

Oliver frowned. That did seem an odd thing for Lois to say, who was usually the type to go in guns blazing. They clearly were in love and while Clark did have a lot to think about, it wasn’t like Lois to just brush it off.

Chloe looked thoughtful for a few moments. “What if she … no, she couldn’t.”

“What?”

“What if she already knows?”

“Knows what?”

Chloe punched his arm. “That he’s Superman, idiot!”

Oliver stared at his wife. He recalled some of the things Clark had said when they’d been talking. His brother had noticed Lois’ attitude toward Superman had changed lately. While she’d mostly kept things professional between them before she and Clark had begun dating, now it was like she was Superman’s number one fan. Or rather more than she previously had been. Then there had been the times when Clark had had to fly off when he was on a date with her. Clark had said she had barely batted an eyelid.

“Oh God, I think you’re right,” he said. “I think she knows!”

Wouldn’t he love to be a fly-on-the-wall for that conversation!


	33. Chapter 33

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois and Clark have an argument.

Ever since they’d started dating, Clark had thought arguments between them were a thing of the past. Yet they’d ended up arguing over something which he didn’t think was all that significant.

Lois had stormed out of the apartment the night before in a huff. He’d had to go out in the middle of dinner at his place to take care of an emergency. The problem was they’d also been having a serious discussion about their future.

It wasn’t that Lois had been pushing for him to propose. The stories in the local rags certainly took care of that, he thought. He’d been feeling some pressure in the past month with one gossip columnist asking if he was stalling. They’d been together almost seven months, the columnist had claimed. Plenty of time to decide on the question of marriage.

Clark did want to get married. He loved Lois so much that he couldn’t imagine his life without her in it. Yet the problem of his other-worldly heritage was the big stumbling block.

Lois had come back the next morning clearly wanting to get things out in the open.

“Clark, I love you. You know that. But I am tired of you leaving right when we’re having a serious conversation. I mean, why? What are you not telling me?”

He didn’t have an answer for her. He could understand why she was put-out. It did seem like he was avoiding the discussion when he left the way he did, but his own fears of rejection kept him from telling her everything.

“I don’t like giving ultimatums, Clark, but unless you start being honest with me, I don’t know if this relationship has a future.”

It hurt. Dear God, it hurt.

He could still remember the day he’d learned the truth about himself. _He’d been eleven. One of the upper classmen at Excelsior had been bullying some of the younger kids, Clark included. His father had told him to just ignore the bully, but he couldn’t stand by and let this jerk beat up innocent boys just to make himself feel powerful._

_He’d tried to stand up to the boy, instead of going to Oliver. When the boy had tried to punch him, Clark had hit back, forgetting to hold back his strength. The other boy had flown a good twenty feet before hitting the stone wall of the administration building._   
_One of the teachers who had witnessed it had immediately pulled Clark into the headmaster’s office. His parents had been called and Oliver was also found and brought in._

_“So what happened?” Oliver asked when they were alone._

_“I dunno,” Clark said with a shrug._

_“Sure you do, squirt. You forgot to control your strength, didn’t you? Didn’t Dad teach you …”_

_“He deserved it!” Clark shouted, getting up from his seat. “He was beating up all the other little kids and I couldn’t …”_

_His brother raised his hands. “Hey, I get it. But you can’t just go around beating on those jerks just because you’re stronger than them.”_

_The headmaster came back into the office. “Boys, I’m afraid your father couldn’t make it, but he asked your uncle to come in his place.”_

_Clark gulped. Knowing his uncle, he was going to be in for a lecture. Jonathan came in, looking worried._

_“Are you okay, son?” he asked, his hands on Clark’s shoulders._

_“Yes, sir, I’m okay.”_

_Jonathan looked at the headmaster. “If it’s all right with you, Mr Reynolds, I’ll take the boys home with me and bring them back over the weekend.”_

_The dark-skinned man nodded. “I don’t see any need to punish the boy. I’m sure what happened was just an accident. But I do think it wise for Clark to spend a few days away from school until the fuss dies down.”_

_“What about the other kid?” Jonathan asked._

_“He’ll be fine. A broken collarbone, but nothing too serious.” Reynolds looked at Clark, then smiled at Jonathan. “I have had several reports the boy has been bullying Clark and some of the other boys in his class. I’m sure he’s learned his lesson.”_

_Clark could barely face his aunt and uncle at the dinner table that night. Jack and Jessica were laughing and giggling, clearly having no idea of the seriousness of the incident. Their parents dismissed them, sending them out to the loft to play._

_Martha looked at Jonathan. “I think he should know. They both should.”_

_Clark frowned and glanced at his brother, who looked just as confused._

_“Know what?” Clark asked._

_He listened incredulously as Jonathan told the incredible story of how his father had found him and his spaceship._

_“That’s why you need to be careful, son,” Jonathan said. “If somebody at that school were to think that you had abilities beyond normal people, the government could investigate.”_

_“You mean they’d take me away and study me?” Clark asked. He remembered a movie Oliver had taken him to last summer. He felt suddenly dry-mouthed, almost trapped._

_He thought about it a lot that weekend and finally came to the decision that he could never tell anyone his secret. Not unless it was someone he trusted completely._

He stood at the picture window, looking out over the city. He had seen the reluctance in Lois’ expression when she’d given him the ultimatum. She was right. The only way they could share a life together was for everything to be out in the open. It was as his mother had said months ago. She deserved to know exactly what she was getting into.

“Mr Queen?”

He turned and looked at his housekeeper. “Yes?”

“Your mother is here,” she said.

He frowned, but stood waiting as his mother came up in the elevator. She greeted him with a hug as she came in.

“Lois called me,” she said. “She sounded very upset over the phone.”

Clark wasn’t surprised Lois would confide in his mother. The two women had grown extremely close in the past few months.

“I guess this last time was probably just the last straw.”

Moira sat him down. “Sweetheart, you need to talk to her.”

“I know, Mom.”

“No, I don’t think you do. If you don’t tell her the truth, you will lose her. Is that really what you want?”

“No,” he said with a sigh.

“Then go, and don’t come back until you’ve told her everything.”

“Mom …”

“I mean it, Clark. Lois is the best thing that ever happened to you and if you let her go, you will regret it for the rest of your life.”

“However long that is,” he replied.

“Stop stalling.”

He got up to leave but then turned back to her. “What if she won’t …”

She pushed him. “You don’t know unless you give her that chance.”

“What if …”

His mother huffed. “Clark Joseph Queen, I swear, if you don’t get out of here I will push you off that goddamn balcony myself!”

“You wouldn’t,” he began to say but saw from her expression that she was deadly serious.

He drove to Lois’ apartment. Dot answered the door. The woman had obviously heard everything from her roommate as she did not look happy to see him. She reminded him a lot of his mother. She was a few years older than Moira and had three adult children herself. It was clear she wasn’t the type to stand for nonsense.

“Is Lois here?” he said.

“That depends. Are you here to apologise or break her heart some more?”

“Uh …”

“I’ll take that as a no comment. Wait here.” She turned from the doorway and walked through the living room down the hall to Lois’ bedroom. He chose not to eavesdrop on the conversation. Lois came out and began walking toward him, Dot following.

“Lois, there’s something I …” He was acutely conscious of the glare from the sixty-year-old woman. “Uh, could we go for a walk?” he asked.

She was silent but nodded, grabbing her keys from the table. He waited as she joined him, telling her roommate she wouldn’t be long.

Lois’ apartment was about two blocks from Centennial Park, thus a short enough distance for them to walk. It was a good thing that the local press had decided they were too boring for good copy, otherwise he knew he wouldn’t have been able to do this.

He was still nervous, worried that she wouldn’t take it well, but knew his mother was right. If he didn’t tell her, he would very likely lose her.

“What did you want to talk to me about?” she asked as they reached the park.

He took a deep breath. “Have you ever … uh, thought, no, I mean …” God, why was this so hard.

“Clark, why are you so nervous?”

“Because I’m afraid, Lois. All my life, I’ve tried to fit in, to be something I’m not.”

“And what exactly is that?” she asked.

Here goes. “Well, you know how I was adopted.” She nodded. “It’s kind of, well, unusual how I came to live with the Queens. See, when I said that they found me, I mean, they literally found me. Wandering a field in Smallville, after the meteor shower. My birth parents … I guess it’s natural to assume that they died that day, but they didn’t.”

“So, how did they die?”

“Um, this won’t be easy for you to hear, and probably a little confusing.”

“Clark, you’re kind of going around in circles.”

He sat her down on a park bench.

“I guess that’s because you’re the first person I’ve voluntarily told this to, Lois. You once asked Superman about his family.”

“Yes, and he said that he couldn’t tell me anything because he needed to protect them. That one of his enemies could hurt them to get back at him if they knew the truth.”

“That’s why I’ve never told anyone this. I made a decision a long time ago not to do that because of that. And … well, I was afraid that if I did finally find someone I trusted enough to tell this to, they might hate me for it.”

“How could anyone hate you, Clark?” she said. “And you know I love you. Whatever it is, you can trust me.”

“I’m Superman.”

He bowed his head as silence ensued. He waited for the explosion. For her to get up and walk away. Anything other than this long drawn-out silence.

He felt her hand on his cheek and looked at her.

“I know,” she said softly, kissing him gently on the lips.

He stared at her. “You …”

“I’ve known for months,” she said. “It was the night we had that Children’s Heart thing.”

He remembered that vividly. How he had planned to join her upstairs but had heard a car-jacking. He'd no sooner sorted that out when he had been called to something else. A couple of hours later he had gone out to Suicide Slum to break up a gang war and discovered the warehouse where they'd been processing the serum used on Trax as a drug. He’d been caught inside the warehouse, unable to do anything due to the exposure to Kryptonite. The next time he had seen Lois, she had been acting a little oddly.

He should have known. Lois was too astute not to have noticed there was something different about him. His mind went over all the things she had said in the past few months since that incident and he realised she had been giving him hints all along but he hadn’t seen it. He’d been too busy avoiding the whole subject, letting his fears dictate his actions.

“There’s more,” he said. “So much more. I’m not … I was born on another planet.”

“I figured that out too,” she told him with a smile. “When I saw you were in pain from that meteor rock, I realised it wasn’t the rock that gave you your powers. Therefore, you weren’t human.”

“And you never said …”

“I was waiting for you to tell me,” she said. “I realised how terrifying it must have been for you, growing up knowing what you were, what you are. How lonely. I began thinking about my own childhood, and I know it’s not really the same thing, but I know how lonely it was for me, moving around from base to base, never really having any long-lasting friendships. Feeling like an outcast.”

He nodded. He’d sensed that of all the people he knew, even his family, Lois was probably the one person who could empathise.

“Tell me,” she said. “Tell me everything.”

He slowly told her the truth. About Krypton and how the civilisation had slowly destroyed itself. About the war that had torn his world apart and the desperate search by his father to save the planet and its people. She listened quietly, without interjecting.

She was sombre when he finished.

“Why did you wait so long to tell me?” she asked.

“I was afraid,” he replied. “I thought if you knew the truth, you could never accept me. My mom told me a long time ago to tell you, but I … I just couldn’t.” He looked at her. “Why didn’t you tell me you knew?”

“I needed time to come to terms with it myself. Believe me, when I did find out, the first thing I thought was, could we really have a real relationship. Dot was watching this movie about an inter-racial relationship and it made me think about our situation. I realised it didn’t matter to me if you were a Russian or a Martian. What mattered was how I felt about you.”

She went on. “Besides, I figured you needed time yourself. And I thought, it’s sort of like the issues we have with you being the owner of the Daily Planet. I mean, yeah, there are likely to be problems and people say dumb things about us and think I get all the good stories because we’re together, but we’ve never let that change how we feel about each other.”

He smiled for the first time since telling her the truth. “You’re right.”

She shifted on the bench, moving to sit on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her gently.

“You can do better than that, Superman,” she purred softly.


	34. Chapter 34

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark and Lois go to Star City together

As much as she loved her boyfriend, Lois didn’t appreciate him bursting into laughter when she emerged from her bedroom carrying two heavy suitcases. 

“Lois, we’re only going to Star City, not to the moon.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “So? This suitcase,” she said, putting a hand on the red one, “is full of my stuff. You did say we’d have to go to a couple of dinners.”

“It’s only for a week,” he said.

She ignored him, pointing to the blue suitcase. “That contains gifts for my nephew.”

“Who also happens to be my nephew,” he pointed out. “And both Chloe and Oliver would kill me if I turned the kid into a spoiled brat before he could talk. Or walk, for that matter.”

“I never had anyone to spoil before,” she said. “Sue me. Besides, it’s only a couple of sweaters Dot knitted and a couple of toys I made.”

“You knit?” he asked, looking as if he was fighting the urge to laugh.

She glared at him. Why was it so unusual for someone like her to knit?

“Yes, if you must know.” She poked him in the chest. “You might be able to fly, Superman, but I can still take you.”

“Really?” he replied. “I’m sure you could,” he added with much sarcasm.

She narrowed her eyes. “You, Mr Queen, are a very bad man.”

He laughed. “What are you going to do about it?”

“You think I don’t know how to get you back?” she asked.

“I know you can’t.”

“Yeah? Try sleeping on the couch the entire week we’re there.”

He didn’t seem fazed in the slightest. “Uh, Lois, FYI, it’s a mansion. There are ten bedrooms.”

“Don’t even think about it, fly-boy! Your mother loves me and if I whisper one word in her ear …”

That got him, she thought, watching his face pale.

“You wouldn’t!”

“Wouldn’t I? You just watch me.”

She had to admit that she got a kick out of being able to tease him, especially for his abilities. She had already given him a few nicknames: one being fly-boy, the other being space-boy. He’d rolled his eyes at every one of them but she knew he secretly enjoyed it. 

He picked up the suitcases. “Come on, jet’s waiting.”

She pouted at him. He’d taken her flying not long after he’d told her everything. She’d initially been a little worried, thinking he might drop her, even though she had actually flown with him once before, but once they were up in the air, seeing the lights of the city below, she had forgotten to be nervous. 

“What? We’re not going Superman Air?”

“That cute pout of yours is only going to get you so far, Lane!”

She exaggerated the pout, trying not to smile and ruin the effect.

“What? This one?” she asked.

“Yeah, that one.” He bent and captured her lips with his. 

“Mmm,” she moaned softly. 

The flight itself was uneventful. As soon as they touched down on the private airstrip in Star City, Lois was greeted with hugs, first from Moira, then from Chloe. Oliver was holding seven-month-old Conner.

The brothers shook hands before Oliver gave her a one-armed hug. He had been stunned to learn exactly how she had discovered the truth about Clark, but she had refrained from teasing her in-law about his green leather fetish. 

“Come on, let’s get out of this heat,” he said, guiding her toward the waiting limousine. 

She had noticed the rise in temperature as soon as she left the air-conditioned cabin of the plane and stepped on the tarmac. It was a hundred degrees and getting hotter by the minute. Clark, she saw, wasn’t even sweating.

She frowned at him. “You don’t even feel the heat, do you?”

“Actually, I don’t feel the changes in temperatures most people do,” he said. “Which made for some odd looks at school, I can tell you.”

“Except for those first few times when your heat vision developed,” Oliver remarked. Lois looked at him. As far as she knew, he hadn’t even been there for it, since he’d been on the island. “Mom told me,” the blond man qualified. 

He explained that when Clark’s heat vision first developed, he’d looked like he had a raging fever. 

“So, uh, how, exactly does that work?” she asked.

Clark bit his lower lip, clearly embarrassed. “Uh, it’s activated by, um, hormones.”

“Hormones?” she asked. “As in …” She couldn’t help it. She looked down at the crotch of his jeans. 

Her boyfriend looked even more embarrassed. She began to laugh. 

“Well, that certainly puts a whole new perspective on the concept of prem …”

He clapped a hand over her mouth. “Don’t even say it, Lane. Don’t even think it.”

Moira shot her a knowing look, a hand over her own mouth as if she was fighting not to laugh at her poor, beleaguered youngest son. Clark practically sulked the rest of the way home. Poor baby, Lois thought, deciding not to continue teasing him over it. 

Lois had stayed at the Star City mansion once before, when Chloe and Oliver had got married. She had expected something ostentatious, yet it looked like a normal house. Well, apart from the fact it was three times the size of one, she thought. 

A housekeeper greeted them on their arrival and a maid or whatever arranged for the bags to be taken upstairs. She led them out to the patio where they could sit and relax in the shade. A pitcher of lemonade was sitting on the glass-topped table. The glasses had also been chilled, making the lemonade cool and refreshing.

Lois sat in-between her cousin and Moira, talking quietly, while Clark and Oliver sat on the other side of the table. Clark had his nephew on his knee, bouncing the little boy up and down. Conner was giggling, clearly enjoying his uncle’s horseplay. 

The housekeeper came out a short time later to announce that dinner would be ready in fifteen minutes. 

Lois looked at Clark. “I should go change,” she said. Her clothes were a little damp with perspiration.

He nodded and told her to follow him. She assumed he would take her to one of the guest rooms. Despite knowing his secret, they still hadn’t slept together. She wasn’t in any rush and wasn’t going to push him into something he might not be ready for. 

Clark stopped at a room down the end of a corridor. 

“So, this is my room,” he said. 

He opened the double doors and stood aside to let her in. She looked around. The room had been decorated with a slightly masculine feel to it. The bed cover was plain, in a navy blue. There was a large canvas on the wall above the headboard of a scene she recognised from the beach below.

“I took photography my senior year at Excelsior,” Clark explained, seeing what she was gazing at. “My mom loves that shot.”

“It’s good,” she said. “Do you still do it?”

“My work as Superman doesn’t really allow me much time, but I do when I can.” He crossed the floor to a bookcase and pulled out an album. “Here.”

He opened the book to show her a page of photographs of what appeared to be a region in the upper North. 

“There’s Great Bear Lake,” he said. “I took that four years ago.”

“Was that around the time of the wedding?” she asked.

He put the album down on the bed. “Yeah. I really did want to be there, but …”

“What really happened? I mean, were you really trapped in the Arctic?”

“Well, no,” he said. “But I couldn’t leave either. See, I was training, with my birth father.”

“Wait, back up. I thought your birth father was dead?” she said, staring at him.

“Sorry, I know there’s been a lot to take in the past couple weeks. See, I have this sort of fortress in the Arctic. It contains a library. Well, it’s not like a library you’d have here. It’s kind of hard to explain. But my father Jor-El created it. He downloaded his knowledge and his memories and created a way for me to interact with him. Anyway, he wouldn’t let me leave to be at Oliver’s wedding.”

“Why?”

“I guess he thought my training was more important. Oliver sort of agreed with him.”

Lois nodded. Jor-El reminded her a little of her own father, who was so rigid in his ways that he would never consider another option. 

“Anyway, your stuff is in here,” he said, leading her to a walk-in closet. It was bigger than the one he had at his Metropolis apartment. He looked at her, uncertainty in his expression. “I didn’t want to assume but I thought …”

She nodded, placing her hand in his and tilting her head up for a kiss. 

"I know. And whatever happens, happens."

She discovered the maid had also unpacked her toiletries. Lois went to quickly freshen up and changed into a light dress. It was loose and flowing, letting her skin breathe. She brushed her hair, leaving it down. 

Clark was waiting for her outside the bathroom, ready to escort her down to dinner. She let him take her hand and they walked out of the bedroom together. 

Dinner was quiet but not uncomfortably so. The two men appeared to be lost in thought. Chloe sent her occasional glances but didn't make any comment. 

The family took a stroll through the grounds while it was still light. Moira walked beside her.

"I'm glad Clark finally told you the truth," she said.

"Me too. I mean, I thought I knew everything but the past couple of weeks it's been a lot to take in. I get why he hid it for so long though. It must have been so lonely for him growing up."

Moira looked at her youngest son, who was talking quietly with Oliver on the path ahead of them.

"He had Oliver, and his friends, but ..."

"Somehow it's not the same," she finished. 

Moira smiled at her. “Well, now he has you.”

As the evening wore on, the family decided to chat in the parlour. Lois began yawning, realising that where it was just after nine here, it was after eleven in Kansas. She got up, deciding to go to bed. Clark rose from his seat.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“I’m fine. Just tired. I forgot Kansas is two hours ahead of Star City. I’m gonna go to bed, but you stay. Be with your family.”

He hesitated. “Are you sure?”

She smiled at him and stood on tiptoe to kiss him. “I’m sure. I’ll be fine.”

She fell asleep before he came up to bed but woke up fairly early in the morning. She rolled over, seeing his handsome face in the dim light of dawn. He must have sensed she was awake as he opened his eyes.

“Hi,” he said sleepily.

“Hi yourself,” she returned. 

“I hope I didn’t wake you last night. You looked so peaceful.”

“You didn’t.”

He grinned. “Great. So, what do you wanna do today?”

She was tempted to say she wanted to lie in bed with him, but knew he had a board meeting that morning. 

“I thought after your meeting is over we could go and check out some of the sights. Do the tourist thing.”

“That sounds great. In the meantime, how do you feel about an early morning swim in the ocean?” The beach was barely half a block away.

“Well, as long as you’re there to save me from Jaws, Superman, I’d say lead me to it.”

He laughed. “You know, attacks from Great Whites are actually very rare.”

“It only takes one,” she returned. 

“Okay, fine. I promise. If, in the rare event that you are stalked by Jaws, I will be there to save you. And I always will.”

She giggled. “You are such a sap.”

On their last day in Star City, the family had been invited to a charity ball. Lois had chosen to wear a strapless gown in black silk. She had pinned her hair up using a jewelled comb and strappy black sandals. Clark’s eyes lit up when he saw what she was wearing. Then again, lately she had noticed his whole face lit up whenever she entered the room. She had no doubt she had the same kind of expression whenever she saw him. 

I guess we’re both saps, she thought, recalling what she’d said to him earlier in the week. 

She watched him during the ball, noticing how he stood that much taller. It was almost as if he was floating on air, which, knowing him, would have been literal. 

Chloe handed her a glass of champagne. 

“I was right, you know.”

“About what?”

“You and Clark. You two are so great together.”

Lois smiled. She’d initially doubted her cousin’s matchmaking skills when Chloe had first mentioned a blind date with her brother-in-law, but she had been right all along. 

“Yeah, we are,” she agreed. “I love him, Chlo. More than I’ve ever loved anyone.”

“I can see he feels the same way about you,” Chloe said as Clark caught them watching and sent Lois a loving smile. “I’m glad. He needed someone like you.”

“As much as I needed him,” Lois returned. “I honestly had given up on dating. Even though we didn’t get along in the beginning, I realise now he was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. He’s not just my best friend. He’s … everything.”

“I know what you mean. I felt the same way when I finally let Ollie into my life. And now look at us. We’re married and we have a beautiful little boy.”

That was the one thing that was missing from her relationship. Lois had never really considered herself much of a traditionalist, but she knew now she wouldn’t be completely satisfied until she had it all. 

It was dark when they returned to the house. Lois wasn’t sleepy and Clark suggested they go for a walk in the grounds. The paths were well-lit with floodlights. 

“Do you ever think about the future?” Lois asked.

“Sure,” he said.

“What do you see for us?”

“Hmm, it’s hard to say. A home, I guess. I imagine in a couple of years you’ll have your first Pulitzer.”

“And you’ll have written that book you’ve always talked about.”

He smiled. “I’ll let you in on a little secret. Jor-El was my chief source of information on most of those articles.”

“Jor-El?”

He nodded. “Krypton was already dying when Zod tried to take over the ruling council. It was one of the things Jor-El wanted me to warn Earth about. If things continue on as they are, then Earth’s environment will go the same way as Krypton. It might take a few hundred years, but it will happen.”

It was understandable that Clark’s birth father would want to prevent the same fate on Earth. 

They walked a little more. Lois stopped and turned to him.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about us lately. About what I want.”

He looked at her. “Which is?”

“I want a home. A family. I never really thought I’d be a good mom, but I know you’ll be a great dad. So, I was thinking. No, I wanted to ask.” She took a deep breath. “Will you marry me, Clark?”


	35. Chapter 35

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And the answer is ...

Clark had never been much for traditions and he wasn’t surprised Lois was the one who asked that all-important question. He had been planning on asking her himself when they got back to Metropolis, but it just seemed right that she was the one who had proposed.

He hadn’t even got around to getting her a ring, but he was hoping his mother still had his grandmother’s engagement ring. It wasn’t ostentatious by any means, but he thought Lois would love it. It was a little over one carat, round solitaire diamond set in yellow gold. His grandfather had given it to his grandmother when he’d proposed to her on a cruise.

“Clark?” Lois appeared uncertain.

“Yes,” he said.

She broke out in a brilliant smile, wrapping her arms around his neck to kiss him. They slowly began walking back to the house.

“Oh god, I can’t believe I did that,” Lois said. “It just felt …”

“Like the right moment,” he finished. “I know.”

“I don’t even have a ring,” she told him.

“I have an idea about that, but I was going to talk to my mom tonight.”

“So you were …”

“Thinking about it, yeah.”

She grinned at him. “Great minds, huh?” She hesitated as they turned toward the path leading to the terrace doors. “Let’s not say anything just yet. Not until tomorrow, anyway.”

“Got something in mind?” he asked her.

She smiled slyly and traced her finger over his shirt. “I might have,” she replied.

He followed her into the house. Chloe and his mother were in the salon, sipping tea in delicate china cups.

“Have a nice walk, darling?” Moira asked.

“Yes, Mom,” he said. Lois shot him a look and shifted her gaze toward the hallway. He let go of her hand, torn between asking his mother about the ring and following the woman he loved upstairs.

“Well, I’m beat,” Lois said, faking a yawn. “I’m gonna go up to bed. Good night.”

For someone who pretended she was tired, she certainly didn’t show it as she left the room almost as if her butt was on fire. She shot him a seductive look.

“You know what?” he said. “I’m feeling a little that way myself.” He bent and kissed his mother’s cheek before turning to Chloe. “Good night.”

She grinned knowingly at him. “Good night Clark.”

He wasn’t surprised to hear his sister-in-law murmur to his mother as he joined Lois in the hallway.

“No prizes for guessing what those two are up to.”

“It’s a good thing the walls are thick,” Moira responded with a laugh.

Clark grinned. Lois looked at him. “What’s so funny?”

“I’ll tell you upstairs,” he said.

She grinned. “Last one up is a rotten egg.”

“You do know who you’re talking to,” he replied.

“Yeah. In my book, Superman, that’s called cheating.”

He huffed. “Fine. Normal speed then.”

“Ready. Set.” Before she said the word ‘go’ she was off. He couldn’t help laughing as he chased her up the stairs and to his bedroom. He managed to catch her before she reached the doorway and wrapped his arms around her.

“You, Miss Lane, are a cheater.”

“So, what are you going to do about it?” she asked, gazing up at him with a smirk.

“Hmm, let me think.” He scooped her up in his arms and carried her into the room, laying her on the bed. She wrapped her arms around his neck and refused to let go.

“Kiss me,” she said.

He did so, putting all his passion for her in the kiss. She somehow managed to roll over so she was on top of him. He looked up at her, watching as she reached behind her to slowly unzip her dress, revealing the strapless bra underneath.

She got off the bed, kicking her shoes off and let the dress drop in a pool of black silk. She stood, clad only in her bra and panties, then reached up behind her back to unhook the bra.

“No,” he said quietly, watching her from the bed.

She nodded and returned to the bed. Clark rolled over, unbuttoning his shirt and pants at quicker than normal speed. Lois’ eyes widened as she realised he had undressed faster than she could see.

“Well, I bet that comes in handy,” she said as he got back on the bed.

“Well, normally, I use it to …” She put a finger on his lips.

“No,” she said softly. “I don’t need to know. I just need you to love me.”

“That I can do,” he replied, pulling her into his arms and lowering her to the mattress with a deep, passionate kiss.

His first time he had been aware of the need to control his abilities, afraid he would hurt the woman he was with, but with Lois, he didn’t need to worry. He realised that it had been not just an issue of self-confidence but a feeling of rightness.

Lois lay in his arms after they’d made love.

“Want to hear something crazy?” she said.

“Sure.”

“I only slept with a couple of guys before you and none of them ever made me feel like I do now.”

“I know. There have been other women, but I haven’t really wanted to be, you know, intimate with them.”

She looked up at him. “I love you, Clark.”

“I love you, Lois.”

Next morning, he left her sleeping and went downstairs. The sun was just rising as he walked out on the terrace.

“Good morning, sweetheart. Did you sleep well?”

He turned to look at his mother. She was sitting at the glass-topped table with a glass of orange juice.

“Yeah, we did. Uh, Mom, you know Grandma’s ring?”

“Her engagement ring? It’s in the safe, honey. Why? Were you thinking of proposing to Lois?”

He sat down next to her. “Actually, Lois asked me last night.”

His mother grinned. “Why am I not surprised? You two have never really done things the traditional way, have you?”

“Not really.”

Lois came out, a kimono robe over a nightdress and her favourite pair of bunny slippers on her feet. Clark had bought them for her when she’d complained that Trax had destroyed her old ones. She had tried to make a joke of it, saying of all the things he had damaged in his wake, the pair of slippers was the only thing she missed the most.

“Good morning,” she said, giving Clark a kiss as she slipped into the seat next to him.

“So, Clark was just telling me the good news,” Moira said. “I’m thrilled for you both.”

“What good news?” Chloe asked, carrying Conner out. He looked sleepy-eyed and grumpy. Lois reached for her nephew and held him on her lap. Oliver had followed his wife out, his blond hair sticking up in all directions. Clark had heard him returning from patrol around two in the morning. There was no such thing as sleeping in when there was a baby in the house.

“We’re getting married,” she told her cousin.

Oliver clapped his brother on the back. “Well, it’s about time!”

“Uh, thanks?” he said, shooting a glare at the older man who appeared to be mentally congratulating himself. He had it on good authority that Oliver and his wife had some kind of bet going on how long it would take them to get engaged. Whatever the bet was, it seemed Ollie had won.

“Well, I suppose we’d better make an announcement in the paper,” his mother said.

“Do we have to?” Clark asked, making a face.

“Yes, darling, I’m afraid you do. Or do you want the local gossip rag to report it first?”

“We don’t have to do a press conference though, do we?” Lois asked.

“Not if you don’t want to,” Oliver said. “We didn’t.”

Thank goodness for that, Clark thought. He slipped away from the table as the maid began to serve breakfast and went to the safe in the study. His father had commissioned one of their own techs to design a safe that, while not infallible, would at least be difficult to break into. Unless the would-be thief had superpowers.

Instead of behind a painting, as most usually were, the safe had been installed in the floor. The house had been modernised some years ago, to make it not only safe in the occasional earthquake, but also temperature-controlled. They’d created a space for the safe as well.

He placed his thumb on the scanner and waited for his identity to be confirmed. The lock clicked and he opened the door, quickly finding the ring box.

“Is it all right?”

He looked up at his mother before checking the ring inside.

“It’s perfect,” he said.

She took the box from him. “I’m glad you chose to use your grandmother’s ring. I think she would have wanted you to. And I meant what I said out there. I’m thrilled for you both. I liked Lois the moment I met her. Yes, she can be a little brash at times, but she has a good heart. Just like you, my darling.”

He hugged her. “Thanks Mom. It means a lot that you approve.”

“She makes you happy, and that’s all I’ve ever wanted for you.”

He secured the safe again and put his arm around her shoulders as they left the room. Lois smiled up at him as they came out.

“Everything okay?” she asked.

He nodded, placing the ring box on the table. “This belonged to my grandmother,” he said. “I want you to have it.”

Lois opened the box and looked at the ring, smiling as she examined it. “It’s beautiful,” she said. “I love it already.”

He took his fiancee’s hand and slid the ring on her finger. “It’s a perfect fit,” he said.

“Just like you two,” Chloe said, grinning down at her infant son who babbled something that sounded like approval.

Two days later, Lois came into his office carrying a newspaper. Their engagement announcement had appeared in the online version of the Planet the day before and would be in the printed version that day.

“Thought you should see this,” she said, showing him the Metropolis Journal. He knew the managing editor, Carrie Castle. She had once sent a reporter to do an exposè on his family by having them corner him at school. Unlike most society columnists, the Journal’s one was at least fairly decent. She had backed off when asked.

_CLARK QUEEN ENGAGED TO LOIS LANE_

_It’s official! Daily Planet publisher Clark Queen and his reporter love Lois Lane are engaged._

_Sources say the couple decided to marry while on vacation in Star City. It’s not clear who popped the question but knowing them as I do, I doubt they chose the traditional route._

_A date for the wedding has not been decided._

_Queen’s mother, Moira Queen, told this reporter she is delighted with the news._

_“It’s wonderful!” she said. “I’ve known Lois almost four years and she is a lovely young woman.”_

_Lois Lane also happens to be the cousin of Chloe Sullivan-Queen, who is married to Clark’s older brother, Oliver._

_Mrs Sullivan-Queen, also a renowned journalist, has said she is ‘absolutely thrilled’ for the couple and wished them every happiness._

_A statement was sought from General Sam Lane, who is currently based in Washington D.C, but his office declined to comment on his daughter’s engagement._

Clark sighed. They’d called the general’s office when they’d returned to Metropolis but he had refused to take the call. Lois had been disappointed in her father’s attitude, but unsurprised. They’d even tried to contact Lucy, but Lois had no number for her and her sister didn’t even have a social media account.

“I’m sorry about your dad,” he said.

She shrugged. “I’ve given up trying to figure that man out. If he wants to be part of my life, he knows how to contact me. I’m not going to waste my energy on someone who continually criticises my life choices. Same with Lucy. If she doesn’t care enough to tell me where she is, then I don’t need the heartache.”

Clark pulled her into his lap, wrapping his arms around her in a comforting hug. She kissed him.

“I have you now,” she said. “And Chloe, and Ollie and your mom. You’re all the family I need.”


	36. Chapter 36

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois gets a surprise.

Lois wasn’t surprised that the news of their engagement spread like wildfire, not only through the newspaper itself, but also through her contacts. Some of them, like Bobby, were genuinely happy for her, while others were quick to snort in derision.

Cat Grant had obviously learned her lesson after Clark had reprimanded her. The other woman had been away on assignment when Lois had returned to work after the week away. The blonde stared in shock at the ring on Lois’ finger when they bumped into each other in the lobby. 

“Oh my God! Lois Lane! Are you expecting?”

Lois glared at her. “Spread that rumour and you can expect my fist in your face. Not to mention yet another reprimand from our boss and my fiancé.”

Cat bit her lip. “I’m sorry. I just … I’m happy for you. Clark’s a great guy.”

Well, that was a bit of a turnaround. “Um, thanks.”

The other woman began saying something else but was thankfully interrupted by Clark. Lois smiled at him.

“Hi.”

“Good morning, Lois. Cat. Lois, can I talk to you for a second?”

“Sure.” She let him pull her aside. “What is it?”

He sighed. “We have to go to this stupid ball on Friday night. Lex is hosting it at the Lexor Hotel.” He huffed. “Sorry, I only just got the invite. It’s one of those things you’ll have to get used to when we get married.”

“Honey, it’s okay. I expected this. Your mom and I had a long talk before we left Star City. I’m guessing I need to go find a ballgown.”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

“Anything particular in mind?”

“No. I’m sure you’ll find something. You always have such great taste.”

“Mm, but you’re biased.”

He grinned. “Yeah, I am.” He kissed her. “See you tonight?”

She nodded. They had talked about her moving in with him but she was yet to agree. Now that they were engaged, and sleeping together, she guessed it was inevitable, but she didn’t want to rush things.

She caught up on some of her story leads and went out to talk to a couple of her contacts, deciding that her lunch break was as good a time as any to go shopping. She had gone online and found a boutique which specialised in evening gowns a couple of blocks from the Planet. 

A bell chimed above the door as she entered. It appeared to be one of those old-fashioned type stores with square glass panes framed in wood in the door. The shop itself was about the same size as her office, with racks of dresses lining the walls and a stand in the middle of the room. Full-length mirrors had been installed between the racks so the shopper could study their reflection. 

“Can I help …”

Lois turned and stared at the girl who had emerged from a curtained doorway. Her eyes widened.

“Lucy?”

Her little sister stared back at her. “Lois!”

“What are you … I didn’t even know you were …”

An older woman had followed. “Lucy, are you … oh, Lois Lane! Goodness, Lucy is your sister.” She smacked her forehead. “I never even thought to consider you might be related but I see the family resemblance.”

Lois frowned at the woman. She was an attractive woman, about five or six years older than Lois. She had long, wavy black hair which worked perfectly with her dusky skintone “Uh, sorry, but …”

“Oh dear. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t forget my manners. I’m Jenna Goldsmith. This is my shop.”

“Your shop?”

“Yes. I designed all the gowns you see here. Lucy is … well, I suppose you could call her my apprentice.”

Lucy bit her lip. “I’m taking fashion design at Met U and I work here part-time,” she said. “I’m sorry I’ve been, I mean, I’m sorry I haven’t called to tell you. I … things have been so crazy for a while and I thought you were still angry at me about that stunt I pulled when you were in college.”

Lois frowned at her sister. Lucy had somehow got involved with a criminal faction while she’d been at boarding school in Switzerland. She had come to Metropolis hoping her sister would get her out of a bind and had ended up stealing a car from the Kansas State campus. Fortunately, the owner of the car hadn’t held it against Lois. 

Lucy had never returned to finish her senior year at boarding school and had dropped out of sight. 

Jenna smiled at Lucy. “She’s really very talented,” she said. 

Lucy blushed. “Thank you.” She turned back to Lois. “Um, congratulations. On your engagement, I mean. I thought about calling, but …”

“It’s all right,” Lois assured her sister. “I was mad for a while, but I’m long over that.”

“Anyway, it’s obvious you aren’t here to see me,” Lucy replied. “So, you’re looking for a dress?”

She nodded. “Yeah. We have to go to a ball at the Lexor Hotel on Friday night.”

Jenna grinned. “I think I know the perfect gown for you,” she said. “It was a special order for a lady who changed her mind at the last minute.” The designer rolled her eyes. “I should have guessed from the beginning she would be one of ‘those’ customers.”

“I think the term is entitled brat,” Lucy said with a laugh. “I’ll get it. It’s just your size, Lois,” her sister added.

Lois watched as Lucy went to a rack at the back of the shop and pulled out a gown in what appeared to be a burgundy red. 

“This would go great with your colouring,” Lucy said as she laid the dress over her arm. 

“It’s in satin,” Jenna told her. “Off-the-shoulder, with boning to firm the bodice. Plus it has a split front. Trust me, when your fiancé sees you in it, he won’t have eyes for anyone else in the room.”

Lois took the dress from her sister and went to change. Lucy was right. The dress fit almost perfectly. Lois guessed the woman who had commissioned the design had been slightly fuller-figured than she was. 

She left the dressing room, one hand keeping the bodice up. Jenna eyed her critically. 

“Hmm, the bodice would need taking in a little, but otherwise, I think it looks great on you. Lucy, would you get my pins, please?”

“Sure.” Lucy went out the back and returned a minute later with a small container. 

Jenna began working, pinning the bodice in places. Lois gazed at her reflection in the mirror. The dress reminded her a little of the gown Julia Roberts had worn in Pretty Woman. 

She played with the split front, loving the way the skirt fell to give just a glimpse of leg. She smiled to herself, thinking of the story Clark had told her about how his heat vision had first activated. Let’s see if we can turn up the heat, she thought. 

“What do you think?” Jenna asked, standing back. 

“I think it looks beautiful on you,” Lucy told her. 

Lois nodded. She loved the dress and knew Clark would love it too. 

“I love it,” she said. “How soon can you do the alterations?”

“I can get them done this afternoon and have it laundered and delivered to you at the Planet Friday morning. How does that sound?”

“That sounds great.”

The price of the gown was slightly more expensive than she had expected but considering it was an original from the actual designer, and the fact that she didn’t have to pay extra for the alterations or the laundering, she figured she was getting a good deal. She handed over her credit card and Lucy rang up the sale.

“I only have one small favour to ask,” Jenna said as she waited for the sale to go through.

“Name it.”

“You’ll let me design your wedding dress. Or rather, Lucy can design it, with my help.”

Lucy stared at her employer. “Really?”

“I think that’s a great idea,” Lois said. She gave Lucy her business card. “Promise me you’ll call me.”

Her sister nodded. “I will. I’ll deliver the dress to you personally.”

Lois left the shop feeling on top-of-the-world. She had made it up with her sister and found a beautiful dress, not to mention the promise of a wedding dress. Whenever they decided to get married, of course. 

Clark was busy with meetings and she didn’t want to interrupt him to tell him this latest news, so she continued to work on her stories until it was time to pack up for the day. 

The housekeeper was just leaving for the day when she arrived at the apartment.

“Dinner is in the oven,” Mrs Adams told her with a smile.

“Thank you,” she said. 

The older woman paused at the elevator and turned to look at her.

“For what it’s worth, Miss Lane, I think it’s wonderful you and Mr Queen are getting married. I’ve worked for the family for a few years now and I’ve never seen him this happy in a long time. I wish you both many years of happiness together.”

“Thank you,” Lois said graciously. 

The older woman smiled broadly. “Don’t forget to take the dinner out of the oven in half an hour or it will dry up. I do remember what it’s like to be young and in love but don’t get distracted. Oh, and there is a bottle of pinot noir chilling in the fridge. It’s his favourite, but I think you know that.”

“I do.”

“Goodnight, Miss Lane.”

“Oh please, call me Lois.”

“Now that wouldn’t be proper, Miss Lane.” She waved her hand and stepped into the elevator. 

Lois sighed softly. She supposed that was something she would have to get used to. The family did have servants and while the Queens were always courteous to their employees, there was still a certain level of propriety. None of the servants ever addressed them by their first names. 

She felt hands on her waist and a kiss on her neck.

“That better be my gorgeous fiancé or there’s going to be trouble,” she said.

“Do you know anyone else who can leap tall buildings in a single bound?” Clark replied, sounding amused. 

She turned and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him. 

“I missed you,” she said. “You were busy the whole day.”

“Is that a pout, Miss Lane?” he asked. “You know what happens when you pout?”

“Hmm, I might need a reminder,” she said, opening her mouth to let him kiss her deeply. 

They continued to make out for a little while until Lois remembered the dinner in the oven. 

“Mrs Adams left dinner for us,” she said. “She told me not to …”

“Let it dry out. We have time,” Clark told her. “Come on. I bet she’s left us a bottle of pinot noir in the refrigerator.”

She followed him into the kitchen and watched as he poured the wine into glasses. 

“Why this particular wine?” she asked.

“I spent a month one summer in the Burgundy region. I tried to talk Uncle Jonathan into growing grapes to make it, but he said the climate didn’t really suit this variety. Did you know Kansas was once one of the largest winemaking regions in the country?”

She nodded. “It was also the first to ban alcohol in the Prohibition era.”

“That’s true.” He sipped his wine, turning his head to check on dinner. The housekeeper, probably knowing they were likely to get distracted, had left the oven on a timer. 

“So, how was your day?” he asked.

“Oh, you know, just working on stories.” She sucked in a breath. “You wouldn’t believe this, but I ran into Lucy.”

“As in your sister?”

She nodded, relating her visit to the fashion boutique.

“Wow! That’s an amazing coincidence. Did she say why she stayed away so long?”

“Just that she thought I would still be mad at her over what happened. Plus I think she was worried I wouldn’t support what she was doing. I think it’s great she found something she loves to do. And Jenna seemed like a really great boss.”

“That’s great. So you found a gown, huh? Can you give me any clues to what this gown is?”

“No you don’t. You’ll just have to wait until the ball, mister.”

He pouted. “Aw, damn!”

“And no pouting, either.”

“Well, that’s no fun.”

“You are a bad man, Clark Queen.”

“You love me,” he returned. 

The oven timer dinged. Lois watched as Clark opened the door and pulled out the dish without even using a pot holder. 

“I still can’t get used to that,” she said. 

He shrugged. “My mom told me when I was little I still had some vulnerability so I did burn my hands a lot.”

“I can’t imagine what it must have been like for your parents. They must have been so worried someone would take you away.”

“Yeah, but my dad gave me some good advice once. He said that I can’t live my life as if I fear the worst will happen."

“So why did it take you so long to tell me the truth then?”

He grinned. “Okay, you got me on that one.” He sighed. “I don’t know. I guess it was a little different. Being Superman was easy because I could hide behind the cape, so to speak. Plus, having so many powers meant if anyone tried to capture me, I could get away.”

“Unless, of course, they knew about your vulnerability to meteor rock.”

“We actually call it Kryptonite. I mean, it is radioactive pieces of my homeworld. I think it was some type of mineral on Krypton.”

“In that case, why not call it, I don’t know, Kryptonium. You know, like Plutonium.”

“Because it came to Earth as meteorites,” he said.

“Oh.” Well, that did sound logical.

“Anyway, what I’m trying to say is, telling you the truth about me was a different kind of vulnerability. I mean, I could handle you kicking my ass. What I couldn’t handle was the emotional side of the possibility that you wouldn’t accept me.”

“That makes sense,” she said as he dished up the meal. “I guess in a way it was better that I found out the truth the way I did and then kept it secret. I mean, it gave me time to really get to know who you were as a person.” Maybe that didn’t quite make sense to him, but she had long ago realised that the side of him he’d let her see was the more human side. He could be himself without his abilities clouding the issue. 

He grinned at her. “You have a way with words, Lois Lane.”

“Thank you for the compliment,” she returned. “So, how was your day?”

“Well, I had a meeting with the Planet’s accountant today. Bo-oring,” he complained. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m pretty good with numbers but even I can nod off at times.”

She laughed. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”

“Perry was asking me if we wanted to do a small piece in the paper. I mean, we already did the notice, but he thought an article would be of interest.”

“It’s hardly newsworthy,” she pointed out. 

“Still, it might stop any potential gossip in its tracks.”

Lois shrugged. “I don’t know. I mean, Cat hasn’t said a word. I think she pretty much learned her lesson when you talked to her. She did ask me if I was ‘expecting’. I put a halt to that rumour mill toot suite.”

“Yeah, I heard. Honey, as much as you hate Cat, don’t go threatening violence. At the risk of repeating myself, I really don’t want to see any catfights between you two.”

She wrinkled her nose at him. “Who do you think would win in a catfight if it did come down to that. Me or Cat?”

He shot her an ‘are you kidding?’ look. “I think the expression is duh!”

She grinned. “You’re so biased!”

“Speaking of ‘expecting’, we haven’t really talked about that, have we?”

“What? Having kids? Like I said the other night, I do want a family.”

“The thing is, I’m not sure I can have kids.”

She reached for his hand across the table. “Honey, none of that matters. If we can’t have biological children there are plenty of children who need a home and a real family. I know your mom wouldn’t trade you for the world.”

He smiled. “I’m glad you feel that way, Lois.”

“I think about what happened with my dad and I’ve done a lot of stories where parents have abused their children. Biology doesn’t make someone a parent. It’s love.”

She could tell from his expression he understood completely.


	37. Chapter 37

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark and Lois attend the ball.

Clark knew from what Lois had told him that her sister was dropping the dress off the day they had to go to the ball. He was tempted to pay a visit to her office while she was off having lunch with Lucy but was under strict instructions not to peek. Not even with x-ray vision. His fiancée had taken to teasing him about his powers, which he found he rather enjoyed. 

A couple of hours before they had to leave for the event, he was called out to help with a tenement fire. He returned to Watchtower to find Bruce once again at the monitors. Clark’s eyebrow shot up when he saw what the other man was wearing. A tuxedo similar to the one Clark had to wear for the ball.

“Here again?” Clark asked. “I’m starting to think you live here.”

Bruce shot him a look of derision. “Very funny, Queen. It so happens I was invited to Lex’s ball tonight and since I was early I just stopped in to check on something.” He frowned. “Shouldn’t you be getting changed? You have to pick Lois up in an hour and I doubt she’d want to fly to the ball.”

“Plenty of time. I can zip home in seconds.”

“Unlike us mere mortals,” Bruce commented. “Congrats, by the way. Rumour has it she did the proposing.”

He grinned. “Yeah, she did. That’s my girl. She knows what she wants and she goes for it. No ifs, ands or buts about it.”

“You’re besotted,” his friend replied.

Clark shrugged. “What’s wrong with that? I mean, for the first time since I found out the truth about who I am, I really feel like I belong.”

“She accepts you, warts and all. That’s great, Clark. I’m really happy for you. I mean, you’ve known each other, what … a year?”

“Close to it. Actually, I was talking to someone yesterday and they asked me if it wasn’t too soon. I mean, we’re just engaged. It’s not like we’re getting married tomorrow!”

His friend arched an eyebrow in surprise.

“Too soon? You’ve been dating seven months! You know, Alfred told me this a long time ago. My parents knew each other a month before they decided to get married. Not that I believe in love at first sight, but it happens.”

“That’s true.”

“You two picked a date yet?”

Clark shook his head. They had talked about it at dinner the other night and while they hadn’t exactly picked a date, they didn’t want to rush into it either. 

He decided to change the subject.

“Who are you taking to the ball?”

“Oh, it’s this, uh, psychiatrist. Chase. She works with the GCPD. Quite an attractive woman.”

“Why the hesitation?” Clark asked, hearing the note in his friend’s voice.

“Well, I did a little research on her background. She’s interested in multiple personality disorders.”

“So, you think she’s more interested in your dual identity?”

“I don’t think she knows I’m Batman, but it’s possible.”

“What happened with Selina?” Clark asked. 

Selina Kyle and Bruce had known each other since the night Bruce’s parents had been gunned down in a Gotham street. The then twelve-year-old girl had been living on the streets, stealing whatever she could to survive. She had witnessed the Waynes’ murders although she had lied to Bruce and told him she hadn’t seen anything.

For years, Selina had lived life on the edge, using the skills she picked up on the streets to steal, gaining a reputation as a cat-burglar. Yet, somehow she had grown closer to Bruce, despite their disparate backgrounds.

Bruce had been dating Selina off and on for years.

“She refused to give up being Catwoman,” his friend told him. “And I couldn’t continue seeing her as Bruce and fight her as Batman.”

Clark could understand Bruce’s conflict. Selina knew he was Batman and he had tried to pretend it was not an issue, but it didn’t change the fact that they were more or less enemies as their respective alter egos. 

“I’m sorry.” 

Bruce shrugged. “Nothing to be sorry about. Neither one of us were willing to change. At least you found a good one.”

“Yeah,” he said, smiling. He glanced at the clock. “I should go home and change. The limo will be picking me up in about fifteen minutes.”

“Why so early?”

“I have to pick Lois up at her apartment and it takes thirty minutes in the weekend traffic to get to her place.”

“Yeah, the traffic sucks. See you later?”

He nodded before turning to leave Watchtower. He flew to his apartment and quickly showered and changed. As he waited for the doorman downstairs to call up to tell him the car had arrived, he checked his messages. There was just one from Lois, checking in and telling him she was actually going to be on time. He knew she could get caught up in stories and that sometimes made her late for a date.

The doorman buzzed and he grabbed his keys and wallet before taking the elevator downstairs.

Fred waved to him. As long as Clark had lived there, he always made sure to treat the man well. It was a lesson he had learned a long time ago from his father.

“Have a good night, Mr Q,” Fred called. 

Clark grinned and waved back. The man had been a cop until he’d retired at the age of sixty. Clark had heard all about his career as a decorated officer for Metropolis PD, as well as the man’s three grown children and six grandchildren. 

The drive to Lois’ apartment was just as long as he expected. He could have got there much faster if he’d picked up the limo and flown it there himself, but Lois had given him strict instructions he was not to use his abilities that night. Unless a huge emergency cropped up that no one else in the League could handle, he was all hers tonight. 

His fiancée had informed him that her roommate had already gone out for the evening. She had gone to the theatre with a group of friends. So they would be alone in the apartment. 

Clark knocked on the door. “It’s open, honey,” Lois called out. 

He opened the door and stepped inside, turning to close the door.

“How did you know it was me?” he asked. “I could have been …”

He stopped talking as he turned back to see her standing in the middle of the living room. She was wearing a strapless satin gown that reminded him a little of something he had seen in a movie once. She’d styled her hair so that its length fell down her back in lustrous waves, framing her gorgeous face. 

“What do you think?” she asked. 

He couldn’t speak. She was so beautiful. 

She frowned, clearly wondering why he was not saying anything. He crossed the floor and pulled her into his arms, giving her a deep, passionate kiss. She moaned softly, clinging to him. He relaxed the embrace as he ended the kiss. 

“Wow!” she said. “That good, huh?”

“You look amazing!”

She played with the lapel of his monkey suit. “You’re not so bad yourself, Mr Queen.”

He took her hand and kissed it. “We should go.”

“Do we have to?” she asked.

“Much as I would love to stay here and let you have your wicked way with me, Miss Lane, I did promise Lex we’d support his cause.”

She made a face. “Do we really have to make nice with him? Especially when he’s a conniving …”

Clark sighed. While she had a point, he knew Lex often held these events for good PR. The man had ambitions to get into politics one day, perhaps even President of the United States. 

He waited while she grabbed her bag and wrap. She clasped his hand as they left the apartment and continued to hold it as they entered the elevator. A man standing in the car sent Lois an appreciative look before shooting daggers at Clark. 

“You’re looking very lovely tonight, if I may say so, Miss Lane,” he said.

“Thank you, Thomas.”

“Going out to dinner?” the man asked, attempting to make conversation as the lift descended.

“No, we’re going to a charity ball,” Clark told him, edging a little closer to his fiancée. He heard the man murmur: ‘Lucky bastard!’, although it clearly wasn’t meant to have been heard. 

Lois glanced at him, then back at Thomas, smiling knowingly. Thankfully the doors opened and they walked out to the lobby, bidding a quick goodnight to the doorman before going out to the limo.

Clark had ensured Lois would be prepared for any questions from the Press as soon as they arrived at the Lexor Hotel. Sure enough, a throng of media was already gathered beside the red carpet, waiting to greet the guests as they arrived. 

A blonde woman he recognised from a local television infotainment show thrust a microphone in their faces.

“Julie Bennett, for Metropolis Out and About. Mr Queen, it’s wonderful to see you here tonight. Looking quite dashing, if I may say so.”

Clark decided to be gracious, even though he knew the woman could be nasty with people she didn’t like.

“Thank you, Miss Bennett. You’re looking lovely this evening.”

She looked quite pleased at the compliment. “And I see you have your gorgeous fiancée with you. Congratulations on your engagement. So, tell me, have you set a date yet?”

Lois smiled at the woman, even as her eyes were shooting daggers at the blonde reporter, who was getting too close to Clark for comfort. 

“We’re still just enjoying being newly engaged, but I promise, you’ll be the first to know. After our families, of course.”

Julie laughed but it was a high, false laugh. “Why, thank you, Miss Lane. I’ll look forward to it.”

Clark took his fiancee’s arm and guided her up the walk to the doors of the hotel, politely telling the reporter they needed to get inside.

“Well, quite the circus!” a voice snottily commented.

He looked around, unsurprised to see Lana and her aunt watching from the entrance. He’d been so focused on trying to get away from the other woman that he hadn’t noticed them until now. 

“You do have a way of attracting attention,” Lana added, her tone implying that she felt it was all deliberate. She scowled as she looked Lois up and down. “You’re so lucky,” she continued. “I could never wear off-the-rack.”

“Actually, this happens to be a designer original,” Lois informed her quietly. Her tone was firm but Clark wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d told Lana to take her ignorance and shove it where the sun didn’t shine. “Honey, let’s get inside. It’s a little chilly out here.” 

Clark grinned to himself, knowing she was actually referring to the reception they’d got from Lana and her aunt, instead of the air. Both women scowled, clearly having got the message. 

Bruce grinned at them as they entered. “Nicely done, Lois,” he said.

Clark looked at the woman accompanying his friend. She was certainly attractive, with long, titian hair and an intense blue-eyed gaze. She still didn’t hold a candle to Lois, however. 

Bruce and his date chatted with them for a little while. Lois had met Bruce a few months earlier when they’d had to go to Gotham for a fundraiser. After he had told her everything about himself, she had quickly realised the Gotham billionaire was part of their little ‘club’ as she called it and he’d had to stop her grilling his friend on his alter ego. 

Lex made a grand entrance a short time later. He was accompanied by a woman with long, auburn hair. Clark didn’t know her personally but recognised her as a socialite. 

The bald billionaire circulated the room, pausing briefly now and again to talk with a guest but it wasn’t long before his gaze was drawn to Lois. Clark steeled himself for the inevitable.

“Well, Miss Lane, you look absolutely beautiful. Doesn’t she, Clark?” 

Lex glanced at him briefly before turning his attention back to Lois. “Congratulations on your engagement. Clark’s a very lucky man.”

“Actually, I think I’m the lucky one.”

“So, do tell me about this lovely gown you’re wearing. I don’t think I’ve seen anything quite like it.”

“There’s this little boutique, not far from here. The owner is a lady named Jenna Goldsmith.”

“Ah yes, I know the one. I’m surprised you chose to use her. Hardly worth your time.”

Lois instantly bristled. Clark quickly stepped in. “What exactly are you implying, Lex?”

“Well, we all know what those people are like.” Lex smiled as if he had no idea the danger he was in. Lois had been singing the woman’s praises since they’d had dinner the other night and was clearly an admirer. He could tell from the way her grip tightened on his arm that she was holding herself back from clocking the bald man.

“Lex, I would tread very carefully,” Clark warned him. “An attitude like that is very unwelcome in this day and age.”

The other man snorted, making his opinion of Clark’s response very clear. He stalked off without a word. 

“I hate people like that,” Lois said in a low voice. “And that guy wants to be president someday?”

He pressed his hand over hers and squeezed gently. “I’m glad you held back. Mind you, another second and I would have punched him myself.”

She chuckled. “I bet you would have.”

He guided her to the edge of the ballroom and they both picked up glasses of champagne. 

“Lex was right about one thing. You do look beautiful tonight.”

Lois looked at him, deliberately fluttering her eyelashes.

“Why, Mr Queen, I bet you say that to all the girls.”

“Only the woman I love,” he replied. 

“Ooh, you are really earning your boy scout badges tonight. I think I’m going to have to do something nice to reward you.”

“And that would be … what? Exactly?”

Her face took on a sly look. “Now that would be telling,” she said. She leaned forward and whispered in his ear. He felt her hand on him and his body instantly reacted to her touch. “Hold that thought, my darling. Just a few hours of this shindig then I’m all yours.”

He was left almost whimpering as she walked away. He turned to watch her go, seeing she headed for the ladies’ room. He saw Bruce grinning at him. The other man raised his champagne glass in a silent toast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lana makes another appearance and yes, she is being a bit of a 'you-know-what'. Part of it will be sour grapes, since she's tried dating practically every rich male in Metropolis, but another part will be her aunt's social-climbing, back-stabbing influence.
> 
> As for Lex, you'll know what he's implying, and yes, he is racist. I'm trying to make him as hateful as possible.


	38. Chapter 38

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois overhears a conversation.

Lois couldn’t help grinning as she entered the ladies’ room and sat in a cubicle. Poor Clark. She knew exactly what she was doing when she was teasing him. She couldn’t wait for the end of the night. Barring any major emergencies, he would be leaving the safety of their city in the hands of his colleagues in the League. 

She still chuckled when she recalled the reactions of some of the League members when they found out she knew everything. Especially Bruce. The man could be taciturn and rather too serious sometimes, but she still enjoyed teasing him about his fetish for running around Gotham dressed as a bat. 

She heard the bathroom door open just as she finished and was about to get up to open the cubicle door when the newcomer spoke.

“Oh my god, did you see those two carrying on? I mean, I knew she had no class, but I hardly would have expected it of Clark.”

Lois froze, hearing Lana’s voice. She was obviously speaking to her aunt. The two women began talking trash about her. She decided to stay put, knowing it would just make things worse if she revealed herself.

“I really don’t know what he sees in her,” Nell was saying. “You never should have dumped him, Lana. God knows, the pickings are slim in this town.”

“I see Bruce Wayne is currently available,” Lana said. “He has almost as much as Lex.”

Lois couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Especially the utter hypocrisy in what the women were saying.

The door to the cubicle next to hers opened and a woman stepped out. Lana and her aunt fell silent as the woman washed her hands and took a paper towel. 

“I find it rather poor taste to be saying such horrid things about someone behind their back. Miss Lane seems to be a very charming woman.”

“Then you don’t know her as well as we do,” Nell said nastily.

“She got drunk at Lex’s party last Hallowe’en,” Lana told the woman, who Lois now recognised as Bruce’s date. 

“Be that as it may, I think you’re being rather harsh, not to mention hypocritical when you talk about a lack of class. As for what Clark Queen sees in Miss Lane, anyone can see from their body language they are very much in love.”

“You’re kidding, right? She’s only interested in him for his money.”

“And what do you know about body language?” Nell asked.

“Again, let me point out the hypocrisy in that statement. As for what I know about body language, I have actually written a book about it. I’m a psycho-therapist.”

Lois heard Chase walking to the door. 

“Oh, and by the way,” she said. “It’s very poor form to be talking about making a play for a man in front of his date.”

Take that, Lois thought. Lana and her aunt could be heard making gasping sounds, but they wisely kept their opinions to themselves, finishing up whatever they had been doing and walking out. She waited a few seconds then left the cubicle, washed her hands and left the bathroom.

Lana and Nell were standing a short distance from the door, glaring daggers at Chase. Their eyes widened as they saw where she had come from and they turned away, their faces red with utter mortification.

She walked away, exchanging a smile with Chase before locating Clark talking to a minor celebrity she recognised as the female star of the Warrior Angel movie. Rachel Davenport smiled at her.

“Here’s the lady herself,” she said. “I was just saying to Clark how lucky you are I didn’t manage to snap him up first.”

“Not a chance,” Clark returned, chuckling. “Besides, I think your husband might have had something to say about that.”

The brunette laughed. “He would too.” She told Lois she was married to the actor who had played Devilicus, the bad guy in the movie. “So, have you two set a date yet, or is that too personal?”

“We haven’t actually talked about it,” Lois said. “But we’ll get around to it, eventually.”

Rachel grinned. “Yeah, I know how it is. But don’t leave it too long. Wedding planners get booked up months in advance. I know the woman who planned our wedding has bookings right up until Christmas, but I bet she could fit you in if I asked her.”

Clark shook his head. “We just want something small. Right, honey?”

She nodded. “We’d much rather avoid the media circus.”

The other woman’s laugh held a note in sympathy. “Oh yeah, I hear you.”

A man approached them and touched Rachel’s arm. “They’re about to announce dinner,” he said. She smiled at him.

“Okay, honey.” She turned back to them. “Good luck with everything. Clark, you know how to reach me if you want that number of our wedding planner.”

Clark turned to her once Rachel had left with her husband. 

“So what was that all about?” he asked. “You and Chase.”

She looked at him. “You mean you didn’t eavesdrop?”

“You were pretty strict about me not using my powers tonight. So? Details?”

She told him what had happened in the bathroom. He chuckled. “Well, no wonder those two look so embarrassed. I wish I could say I’m surprised at Lana. She was a nice girl when I knew her in Smallville. I guess her aunt’s had a lot more influence on her than I realised.” He sighed. “I’m sorry you had to hear that.”

“It’s not as if Lana was wrong about me getting drunk last year.”

“And you explained what happened. You were upset.”

“What you said was actually a bit of a wake-up call.”

“Maybe I was a tad bit harsh,” he said.

“You had every right to be. I mean, we weren’t even dating then and I was out of line.”

“You’ve more than made up for it since,” he told her. “You know, I’m glad we actually took the time to build a friendship first. Even if it did have its ups and downs. I’ve always felt the key to a good relationship is building a solid foundation.”

She understood what he meant. A relationship was a little like building a house. If the foundation was solid, the house could weather a few storms.

The staff announced dinner was being served and they followed all the guests out. Lois noted Lex had had them placed at his table. She wondered what his reasons were for inviting them to the ball but figured eventually he would reveal them. 

The menu for the dinner was clearly designed with the well-to-do in mind. Full of rich foods that Lois could never have afforded. She had to smile when Clark leaned into her and whispered: “I’d much rather have a hamburger.”

“Behave,” she returned. 

Growing up an army brat hadn’t really prepared her for the etiquette of fine dining with rich socialites. When they’d started dating, Clark had told her he didn’t care if she didn’t know the unwritten rules at any of the social events they’d attended. If he wanted to date a rich socialite who had practically grown up with that knowledge, he would have done. As far as he was concerned, those so-called rules were just there so rich people could look down their noses at others and pretend they were better than everyone else. 

As cynical as it sounded, Lois agreed there were some who used the number of zeroes in their bank accounts to give them permission to act like they were above it all. Even the law. 

Despite the richness of the main course, or one of them, at least, which tended to give her indigestion, Lois was delighted when they brought out Tiramisu for dessert. Even Clark began to look a little more enthused. 

“Finally! Something I can actually enjoy!”

She shook her head in mild exasperation at her fiancé and turned back to her dessert. 

Once the tables were cleared, Lex got up to make a speech. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming tonight. Your efforts have raised a little over a quarter of a million dollars for the Luthor Children’s Hospital.”

Lex had obviously gone all out, hiring a small orchestra to play. Clark rose from his seat and held out his hand.

“May I have this dance?” he asked.

She took his hand and let him pull her up. Other couples had already got up to dance and they took no time in joining them on the floor. The first dance was a fairly simple waltz, which she knew Clark couldn’t possibly mess up. She still smiled when she thought of the first time they’d danced together and he’d stepped on her toes. 

The dance ended after a few minutes but before the next one began, Lex approached them.

“Lois, I wonder if I might borrow your fiancé for a moment?”

“Anything you can say to me, you can say to Lois,” Clark told him. 

“Forgive me, but, she is a reporter.”

“’She’ is standing right here,” Lois said. “And if the information is that sensitive, there is a little phrase called ‘off the record’. Besides, I’m not here as a reporter tonight. I’m here as Clark’s partner.”

“Yes. Of course.” He drew them aside. “I was hoping I could count on your support. I’m intending to run for Kansas State Senator in the next election round.”

“My support?” Clark asked. “Do you mean financially, or something else.”

“Well, of course, I was hoping I could get an endorsement from the Daily Planet.”

“I’m sorry, Lex, but the answer is no.”

“Take some time to think about it,” the bald man suggested.

“I don’t need to think about it. What do you think it would do to the newspaper’s credibility if it came out in support of your candidacy? I assume you’ll be running against Jack Jennings. I would tell him the same thing. The Daily Planet will not endorse any candidate, no matter the campaign. And if you were considering asking Oliver or my mother for their endorsements …”

Lois stayed silent by her fiance’s side. She was annoyed that Lex would even consider asking for such a thing, but she had long ago ceased being surprised by the man’s machinations.

“I already asked. They said no.”

“Then you have your answer.”

“But don’t you see this would be advantageous to both of us …”

“In what way? Are you perhaps suggesting that by us endorsing you, you could somehow increase revenue for the Planet? What would you do if we didn’t? Suggest our advertisers go elsewhere?”

“It wouldn’t have to come to that.”

“I’m sorry, but when it comes to politics, the Daily Planet must remain neutral.”

“I would have thought you of all people would understand. Didn’t you run for class president at Excelsior?”

“Yes, I did, Lex, and yes, I did get a little miffed when the school paper decided to endorse one of the other candidates. Which is why I will not compromise my paper’s integrity for the sake of keeping a few advertisers. If they choose to go elsewhere on that basis, then good luck to them. I wish you luck for your campaign, Lex.”

The bald billionaire walked off without another word, looking aggravated. Lana tried to stop him to speak to him but he shook her off. 

“Wow!” Lois said. “I can’t believe he’d even … was he making a veiled threat?”

“Apparently,” Clark said with a sigh. “It doesn’t matter. I’m not going to let him ruin the rest of our evening.”

They returned to the dance floor where Bruce and Chase were also dancing. As the next song began, Bruce suggested they change partners.

“Everything all right, Lois?” he asked.

“It’s fine.” He looked at her sceptically.

“Is it? Clark looks pissed.”

She quickly told him what had happened. Bruce looked annoyed.

“Yeah, he approached me to help as well, saying an endorsement from Wayne Enterprises would help him draw the votes.”

Gotham wasn’t exactly in Kansas but Wayne Enterprises did have a few subsidiaries in Metropolis. Lois guessed Lex thought he could win votes from the business sector. 

“You don’t really think he’d try to manipulate the paper’s advertisers into going somewhere else, do you?”

“If the Planet’s advertisers know their business, they wouldn’t even consider going elsewhere,” Bruce told her. “I wouldn’t worry. Clark’s known Lex a long time and knows exactly what he’s capable of.”

Clark was quiet in the back of the limo later that night. Lois glanced at him now and again but he appeared deep in thought. As much as he’d told her he wasn’t going to let Lex ruin their night, it looked like the incident had done just that. 

He still hadn’t spoken a word when they got upstairs to his apartment. She watched as he went to the wet bar and poured himself a finger of scotch. He rarely drank spirits.

“Clark?”

He turned and looked at her. “Sorry. Did you want one?”

“No. I want to know what’s going on in that head of yours. Did Lex really upset you?”

“A little,” he admitted. “I’m more annoyed than upset, actually. The fact that the man had the sheer gall to even ask if I would support him …”

She went to him, taking the glass from his hand and putting it down on the bar.

“Honey, forget him. Anyone who decides to take their advertising revenue elsewhere on his say so is pretty much shooting themselves in the foot. If they knew you as well as I do, they would know how much you care about the paper.”

He took off his glasses and laid them on the bar. “You have a lot of faith in me, Lois Lane.”

“I believe in you. As much as you believe in me.”

She stood on tiptoe, pressing her lips to his. His mouth was slack. 

“Hmm, you usually are more enthusiastic when I kiss you.” She continued to press kisses to his jaw until he responded, his arms tightening around her waist. 

He picked her up in his arms and carried her up the spiral staircase to his bedroom, putting her down again with a kiss. She looked up at him lovingly as he slowly undressed her before taking her to the bed.

Their lovemaking was slow and sweet. Maybe not as passionate as it had been between them since the night they’d got engaged, but as she looked into his eyes, she could see her own feelings reflected there. 

She had read dozens of trashy novels which talked about a connection between two people but she had thought it was all utter nonsense until now. When she gazed deep into the eyes of the man she loved, she knew that it wasn’t nonsense. Theirs was as deep a connection as she had ever known. 

They lay with limbs entwined. Clark stroked her body gently, sending little shivers up and down her spine.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked quietly.

“Us. Sometimes I wish we’d met sooner. It’s like, nothing in my life really mattered until I met you, because you weren’t part of it.”

“I know. But, you know, my mom told me once that things happen for a reason. Maybe the reason we didn’t meet until last year was because we had lessons to learn. Like all the mistakes we made in our previous relationships were so that we could appreciate what we have now.”

She gazed at him, then kissed him gently.

“I love you, Clark.”

“I love you too.”

She rolled over to lie on top of him, kissing him once more. The dance began anew, this time with all the passion they both felt.


	39. Chapter 39

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark is stressed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a bit of a time-jump in this chapter.

All the heroes, or at least those who weren’t already busy trying to keep peace in their respective cities, were assembled in Watchtower for their usual monthly meeting. Some snacks had been left out and Bart was stuffing his face.

“Flash, could you stop shoving food in your mouth for five seconds so we can discuss what’s been happening in Central City?” Bruce admonished.

“What, man? I’m starving! You know I have a high metabolism.”

“You could at least save some for the rest of us, short stuff,” Victor told him. 

“Can it, Tin Man.”

“All right, all right,” Clark said, raising his hands. “Enough bickering. Now if we could …” He frowned, hearing the sound of the elevator. No one else was expected and only a select few had the codes to the security system Bruce had built. 

The double doors opened twenty seconds later and Lois walked in. He frowned at her.

“Honey, what are you doing here?”

“Did you forget we had an appointment?” she asked. 

“What appointment?”

Oliver shot him a look and rolled his eyes. Oh, that appointment, he thought. His mother had hired a wedding planner. Not the one Rachel had suggested six months earlier, but one she approved of. As much as he loved his mother, he had not been too sure of letting her run things.

Lois had been philosophical. “I learned a long time ago to just nod and agree to everything she says. I know better than to incur the wrath of Moira Queen.”

As did he. While he hadn’t told his mother what Lana had said about Lois at the ball the night Lex had decided to announce his second attempt to run for state Senate, she had managed to hear about it anyway. As his brother’s wife had commented: “Never get between a mama bear and her cubs. Or their significant others.”

Nell and Lana were both still licking their wounds from that incident. He and Lois had been to several social events in the past few months and neither one of them had made an appearance. Clark had heard a rumour that Lana had fled to Paris, where she had once spent an entire summer studying art. 

He glanced at the clock. It was two-thirty.

“Uh, honey, we still have to finish up here,” he said. “The appointment’s not until three.”

“And you know your mother doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

“I’ll make sure he gets there,” Oliver promised. 

She beamed at him. “Thank you.” She turned back to Clark. “See you in a bit?” He nodded, watching as she walked away.

He returned to the meeting but the others clearly wanted to talk about Lois’ interruption.

“She looks stressed,” Bruce said. 

“So would you be if your future mother-in-law had taken over your wedding,” Dinah retorted. “I am never getting married.”

“Really?” Bart asked. “Never?”

“I think I’d rather just shack up with someone and live in sin.”

“It’s not all bad,” AC replied. “When Mera and I got hitched, we just had a simple ceremony on the beach.”

Clark sighed as the talk turned to the wedding. They still had three months to go and it was turning into the event of the year. Even the media was working itself into a frenzy, with Paparazzi practically dogging their every move. 

Oliver sympathised. The same thing had happened with him and Chloe prior to their wedding. Even now, with Conner just over a year old, their nanny had reported Paparazzi following her just to get a photograph of the little boy. It reminded Clark of a passing acquaintance who was also something of a celebrity. A photographer had basically trespassed on his property just to get a photo of the man’s three-month-old daughter. 

Clark wound up the meeting as quickly as he could and left Watchtower, flying over the city to the café where his mother had arranged the meeting with the wedding planner. He landed out of sight in the alley and made his way to the table. He wasn’t surprised to see Lucy sitting with Lois.

The sisters had grown closer in the past few months. Lucy had sincerely apologised for everything that had happened and the years of silence. Clark found himself liking the younger Lane. She had certainly matured from a selfish teenager to someone who had taken responsibility for her mistakes. 

They’d been to dinner a few times and even double-dated with Lucy and her boyfriend, a photography student named Jimmy Olsen. 

Sadly, General Lane hadn’t changed his tune and they had not seen him since before they’d become engaged.

He adjusted his tie as he sat down. “Sorry I’m late,” he said. “Meeting ran over.”

Lois shot him a grin and he dropped his gaze. She constantly teased him about the ‘gossip sessions’ in Watchtower and it often seemed like they talked more about trivial subjects rather than the various villains they were dealing with. 

“It’s all right, darling,” his mother replied. “I know you’re busy.”

“I do hope you’re not planning on holding any meetings on your wedding day,” the planner hinted. 

Moira had refused to take no for an answer when she’d suggested June Kelly could plan their wedding. She had also planned Oliver and Chloe’s. Clark had tried to protest, saying they just wanted something quiet, but Lois had told him there was little point in arguing. His mother was going to do what she wanted. 

“So, as I was saying, I think three hundred white doves should do it.”

He stared at June. “What the hell are those for?” he said, louder than he intended. Both Lois and his mother instantly shushed him as a couple at the next table turned to stare at them. 

“For when you’re coming out of the church, of course,” June told him. 

“Church? I didn’t agree to a church.”

“Honey, calm down,” Lois said. 

“But we agreed we didn’t want to get married in a church,” he said. “Remember?”

“I know, but this is what your mother wants.”

“It’s our wedding!” He glared at his mother. “Since when did this become all about you?” He got up from the table and began walking away, but not before he heard June sigh.

“Oh dear, he’s going to be difficult, isn’t he?”

Lois chased after him. “Clark, believe me, I know, but I’m just trying to compromise.”

“Compromise? Lois, she’s taking over everything! It’s like she doesn’t trust me to make the right decision. I told you I wanted something small, now it’s like it’s a goddamn coronation. I’m surprised she hasn’t invited the Queen of England!”

“Honey, don’t shout. Yes, I know your mother can be a little overbearing sometimes, but try to see it from her point of view. You’re her youngest son and she just wants to make it special.”

“It’s already special. I’m marrying you.”

He looked up as his mother approached. “Darling, I’m sorry if it seems I’m taking over everything. I just want this to be something you’ll both remember.”

“I’ll remember it just fine without the doves and the thousand-dollar flower arrangements. Why do we have to have it in the church? Especially one in Star City? We live here! Why do we even need any of this? We wanted simple, Mom. If we wanted a royal wedding we’d be hiring out Westminster Abbey.”

She nodded, looking thoughtful. “All right. You’re right. I’ve gone overboard. How about we compromise? No doves, but will you at least consider having the ceremony in a church?”

“What about the chapel in Smallville?” he asked. “I want Uncle Jonathan and Aunt Martha to be there. They couldn’t come to Oliver’s wedding and they were there for me at some of my worst moments.”

She beamed. “That sounds like a wonderful idea, sweetheart.”

Lois even looked happy with the decision. They returned to the table and continued talking with the planner, who agreed to Clark’s requests without argument. 

It was late by the time they made it back to his apartment. Lois still hadn’t moved in, deciding she wanted to wait until they actually got married. It didn’t really make much difference, since they were sleeping together almost every night, although she was still paying rent at her place.

Lucy had begged off on a family dinner, saying she had already made plans with her boyfriend. 

Chloe greeted them, holding Conner in her arms. 

“How was the meeting with June?” she asked.

“Ugh, don’t even go there,” Clark replied. He flopped down on the sofa and held out his arms for his nephew. The little boy babbled happily as Clark bounced him on his knee. 

“Clark wasn’t happy with some of the planner’s ideas,” Moira said.

“Mom, we’ve already discussed this.”

“You’re right, darling. I’m sorry.”

“I hate to say I told you so, Mom, but I did warn you to back off,” Chloe said gently. “You do have a tendency to take over.”

“Well, I just want everything to be perfect.”

“I’m not expecting everything to be completely perfect,” Lois replied, sitting next to him on the sofa. “Things happen. But as long as it ends with Clark placing a ring on my finger, I don’t care.”

Oliver came in. “I ordered dinner from that Chinese place downtown,” he said. 

Conner reached for his father. “Dada!”

Clark stared at his nephew then looked up at his brother as Oliver took his son. 

“Did he just say what I think he said?”

“Yep,” his brother said with a grin. “His first word.” His expression was almost gleeful. “He said Dad before he said Mom.”

“Oh, please. No need to gloat,” Chloe replied with a mock glare at her husband. He responded by giving her a deep kiss. 

“Well, maybe the next one will say Mom first,” he said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. 

Clark groaned. “Ugh. Get a room, guys. Or at least put the kid to bed before you start talking about s-e-x.”

“It’s not like he can understand the word. Yet,” Oliver said. “If he takes after me, he’ll know all about it before he’s five.”

“Yeah, yeah, we all know how precocious you were as a kid,” Clark returned, mocking his brother. “I know all about how you had three girlfriends in kindergarten.”

“Hey, can I help it if the girls found me irresistible.”

Chloe rolled her eyes. “That’ll be the day.”

“What are you trying to say, wife?”

The couple began bickering as they took their son upstairs. They’d insisted to Clark they would be perfectly fine staying at a hotel, wanting to give them privacy, but he had equally insisted it was no bother. 

Moira followed them upstairs, saying she was going to freshen up. Clark sighed softly.  
“Are you okay?” Lois asked. “You seem a bit tense.”

He nodded. There had been the usual problems at work, not to mention the battles with some of the advertisers. Lex had done his best to try to persuade the Planet’s bigger accounts to dump the paper in favour of the Metropolis Star, which had endorsed his campaign. As Bruce had predicted, however, the majority of them had been smart enough not to buy into Lex’s game and refused. Even on threat of blackmail. 

“It’s just work,” he said. 

“Normally you don’t let it get to you like this. You don’t usually go off at your mother like that either.”

Her scolding was gentle, but he knew he shouldn’t have spoken to his mother the way he had. She was only trying to help, even if it did seem she was taking over.

“I know. I just …”

“I know you think I’m giving in to her, but it’s not about that. For the first time since my mother died, I feel like I’m part of a real family. And if organising this wedding makes her happy then I for one am not going to take that away from her.”

“In other words, I should apologise. You’re right. I’ll go talk to her.”

Lois kissed him. Clark got up from the sofa and went upstairs. His mother was in her room, putting away some clothes the housekeeper had laundered for her. 

He knocked on the door and she looked up. 

“Everything all right, sweetheart?” she asked.

“I came to apologise for blowing up at you earlier,” he said. “I’m sorry. I acted like a five-year-old and I shouldn’t have spoken to you the way I did.”

She sat down on the bed and patted the mattress. Clark entered and sat down next to her.

“I know things have been stressful at work. I was only trying to make things easier for you with the wedding planner.”

“You’re right. It has been stressful at work and, I hate to say this, with Lois too. I mean, not that she’s causing any issues. It’s everyone else. The gossip mill has been going full force in the office and it’s like we don’t have any privacy.”

“Well, darling, this is what happens when your family is famous, or semi-famous. Especially in this day and age where everything you do turns up somewhere in social media. The trouble is, most people who aren’t famous see celebrities as almost like their best friends. Or worse, their property in a way.”

“But it can be taken to the extreme,” he said.

A couple of months ago, his assistant had brought something on Twitter to his attention. Someone had been posting rather disturbing messages, claiming an obsession with him to the point where they had suggested Lois didn’t deserve him. He had initially wondered if it was Lana, trying to cause trouble, but he’d asked Bruce to investigate it and he’d tracked it down to an address in Connecticut. J’onn had gone to talk to the person and warned them their tweets could constitute a physical threat and land them in very serious trouble. 

Lois had learned from watching various police procedural shows on television that even posts that seemed innocuous could be made by some very disturbed people. 

It was bad enough that they were stalked by the Paparazzi but the thought that he would have to protect his future wife, and any children they might have, from such threats was keeping him awake at night. 

“Remember what your father used to say?”

“I know.” He sighed. “If I live my life as if I expect the worst to happen, I’ll never have a life. I just want to protect my family and I don’t want Lois to have to keep putting up with that crap. She doesn’t deserve that.”

He heard a sound in the doorway and looked up. Lois stood there, looking upset. She had her phone in her hand.

He rose and went to her.

“Honey? What’s wrong?”

“I just got a call from the military brass. My dad’s in the hospital.”

“Where?” he asked.

“Bethesda.”

“Did they tell you what happened?” Moira asked.

“Just that he’s had a heart attack.”

Clark nodded. He wrapped his arms around her in a comforting hug. 

“Pack a bag,” he said gently. “We’ll fly out as soon as you’re ready.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I'm not justifying Clark's tantrum, but yeah, Moira was taking over a bit.


	40. Chapter 40

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois and Clark go to check on her father

It was late by the time they arrived at Bethesda, also known as Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Lois was almost relieved Clark had opted to take the family jet instead of flying her to the hospital as Superman. It gave her a little time to gather her thoughts. 

Clark held her hand in support as they made their way to the front desk. He had an overnight bag in his other hand. They had caught a cab at the airport and hadn’t even stopped long enough to get a hotel.

“Hi,” she said to the nurse. “I’m Lois Lane. I was told my father, Sam Lane is here.”

“Yes, Miss Lane,” the nurse said. “He’s in ICU. But it’s very late.”

“I know. They only called me about three hours ago and it took about an hour before the plane could leave. I’m listed as his next-of-kin, so …”

“I’ll call up to ICU and see what we can do for you. Please take a seat.”

“Thank you.”

She sat down in the waiting area. Clark sat next to her, providing the comfort she desperately needed. Despite the way her father had behaved toward her since she’d got engaged, she still cared about him. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” he said softly.

She looked at her fiancé. “What?”

“It’s okay to be upset. He is your father.”

“I know. It’s just … Why do I care so much, Clark? I mean, he basically broke off all contact. He was horrible to you.”

“He’s entitled to his opinion.”

“Not just about you-know-who.”

“Voldemort?” he asked. She nudged him with her elbow.

“Very funny.”

“Just trying to lighten the moment.”

“You know what I mean, honey. That day we went to lunch with him he was just …”

“I knew when I became … you-know-who, that there would be some people who would worry or would do nothing but criticise me. I can’t change their opinions of me. All I can do is keep doing my job.”

“Miss Lane?”

She looked up. A man in military garb stood in front of her. 

“Yes?”

“Sergeant Watts. I’m here to escort you to ICU. And you, sir?”

“I’m her fiancé,” Clark said.

“Yes, sir. Follow me, please.”

Lois got up, not waiting for Clark, her anxiety increasing by the second. The fact that her father was in intensive care meant it was serious. She followed the uniformed man silently, thankful for her fiancé’s quiet support by her side. 

Obviously her father’s rank gave him some privileges and he’d been placed in a room by himself in the unit. There were various tubes connected to bags clearly containing fluids. She guessed one of them was a saline solution which was being used to administer medication.

He looked pale, his face barely a contrast with the white sheet. She noticed a slight puffiness in his skin. 

“We’re keeping him under sedation,” a voice said behind her.

Lois turned to look at the man in the hospital scrubs.

“I’m sorry?”

“You must be General Lane’s eldest daughter.”

She nodded. “Yeah. Uh, Lucy wanted to be here, but …”

“It’s probably best that she isn’t.” He waved his hand to the corridor outside. Clark and Lois followed him.

“How bad is it, doctor?” Clark asked.

“It’s extremely serious,” the man replied before peering at Clark interestedly. “You would be Mr Queen?”

“Yes, sir.” Lois chose not to question how the doctor knew who Clark was, although since there had been numerous articles and photographs about them it wasn’t hard to figure out. 

“They told me on the phone it was a heart attack,” Lois said.

“The clinical term is myocardial infarction. Simply put, your father has an arterial blockage. Or rather, several, in his case.” She knew enough to know that smoking, a poor diet and the stress of his job would have been contributing factors. 

“So, what do you need from me?” she asked. “I mean, I’m his next-of-kin.”

“I’ve discussed your father’s options with him and he has agreed to bypass surgery. He is fully aware of all the complications that may arise. We thought it best his family should know.”

She wondered if her father had asked them to call or if the hospital had taken the initiative. She knew the general had a will naming her and Lucy as the sole beneficiaries, not that he had much for them to inherit, given the mobility of his career. 

“Miss Lane, I cannot make any guarantees with your father’s condition. There is a slim chance he may not survive the surgery.”

She nodded. “I’m aware of the risks, doctor.”

“We felt it prudent to inform you in case …”

“In case he doesn’t make it. Thank you, doctor.” Given the lateness of the hour, she knew they couldn’t stay. “When is his surgery?”

“Day after tomorrow. The nurse will give you a list of hotels nearby if you wish to stay.”

Clark clasped her hand in a gentle grip. “Honey.”

She squeezed his hand and turned to give her father one final look before walking out the door with her fiancé. They quickly found the nurse who supplied them with the names and numbers of several hotels. Clark took over, phoning a few hotels before locating one that was able to accommodate them. 

They caught a cab to the hotel. The manager on the desk scowled as he looked up. Lois let Clark do the talking.

“Clark Queen. I spoke with someone on the phone about twenty minutes ago.”

“Mr Queen. Yes, that was me. As I explained on the phone, we only have the one room available and I’m afraid it isn’t quite up to your standard.”

Lois frowned. What the hell did the man mean by a standard? Was he expecting that they would be wanting a luxury room with all the mod-cons? She didn’t care if it was just a bed and nothing else. She wasn’t here for a vacation!

Clark squeezed her hand, obviously sensing her annoyance at the man’s assumption.

“Sir, whatever you can do to accommodate us is fine. My fiancee’s father is in the hospital and we only got the call a few hours ago. We know how difficult it is to get a room at this time of night and I apologise for the lateness of the hour.”

The man’s expression changed to one of surprise at Clark’s politeness. 

“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that about your father, ma’am. I hope he’s going to be okay.”

“I hope so too,” she said quietly. 

“I’ll get someone to show you to your room,” the man said.

“That isn’t necessary,” Clark replied. “We don’t need a bellhop. We packed in rather a hurry.”

“Of course.” The manager’s nod was sympathetic. He took Clark’s credit card and charged the room, quickly sorting out the paperwork and programming the key to the room.   
They took the card and left the reception, quickly finding the elevators and making their way up to the tenth floor. 

The manager had been right about the room. It was nothing fancy. A queen size bed barely long enough to fit Clark’s height. Two nightstands were on either side. The veneer appeared a little worn and slightly stained. 

She sighed. Clark squeezed her gently.

“Honey, the room is fine. It’s not like we’ll be spending our days here.”

“I know, it’s just … I’m worried, Clark. What if he doesn’t make it?”

“I won’t lie. I know enough about these things to know that there is a good chance he won’t, and you might have to prepare yourself for that possibility. But you can’t stress yourself worrying about what ifs.” He looked around the room. “I agree the room isn’t ideal, but it’s not the hotel’s fault. In the morning I’ll talk to the manager and see if they can transfer us to something a little better. If not, I can always call Senator Jennings. He has an apartment in DC.”

She nodded, feeling a little better. They undressed and got into bed. Clark kissed her gently.

“Go to sleep, sweetheart. I promise, we’ll sort something out in the morning.”

She curled in his arms, comforted by his warmth. The room was not well-heated but he was always warm. She fell asleep shortly after. 

Next morning, they got up around nine and went to find a diner that served all-day breakfast, not wanting to make too many demands of the hotel staff. As they were waiting for their breakfast to come out, Clark made a quick call. The hotel manager had explained that all the rooms were booked and they weren’t able to transfer to another room.

“Hi, this is Clark Queen. Is Senator Jennings available?” He waited for the reply. “Yes, that would be great. Thank you.” Another pause. “Jack? It’s Clark. Don’t worry, I’ll only take a couple of minutes of your time. We’re fine. Actually, we wondered if we could ask a small favour. We’re in the area. Yeah, Lois’ father is in the hospital. Heart attack. All the hotels we called are full and … Yeah? That would be great.” He smiled at the server as she put down their plates and finished his call.

“Jack’s going to call his building manager. He has a spare room we can stay in.”

Lois was relieved. Apparently there was some kind of convention in town, which was why many of the hotels were booked. Clark smiled at her.

“See, I told you we’d work something out.”

“You did,” she said.

If only working things out with her father would be just as easy. 

It was almost noon by the time they got to the hospital. Her father did not look pleased to see them. 

“The hospital called and told me,” she said as she sat down in the chair beside his bed.

“I told them not to bother you,” he said brusquely.

“What did you expect them to do? You had a serious heart attack, Dad!”

“You have a busy life.”

“And you are important to me.”

He glanced at Clark, his expression unreadable.

“So, you two still set on getting married?” he asked. 

“Yes, sir,” Clark said quietly. The general scowled.

“I’m still not happy about this. I expected better from you.”

Lois looked at her fiancé. He shrugged. 

“Honey, why don’t I go get us some coffee?”

“Thank you, darling,” she replied, emphasising the endearment, noting as she did so that her father still wasn’t happy. She waited until Clark had left the room before turning back to the older man.

“I don’t know why you have to be so nasty to Clark. He’s never done anything to you.”

“What do you see in him?”

“What is your problem with him? Is it because his family is rich? I don’t care about that.”

“The man is a sympathiser.”

“A what?” she asked, half-laughing.

“He supports Superman,” the general explained, making it clear that his views on Superman hadn’t changed.

“Clark goes out of his way to make sure that any stories published on Superman are fair and balanced. How can you say he’s a sympathiser?”

She knew how difficult it was for her fiancé, especially given that he was Superman. Of course, the last thing she wanted to do was agitate the old man further by getting into an argument with him, or reveal that the man she loved was the superhero himself. It would only make matters worse. 

Her father continued to talk, saying things about Clark that just weren’t true, getting more offensive as it went on.

“Dad, I’m not going to get into an argument with you. I don’t care what you say. I love Clark and we’re getting married in three months. With or without your blessing.”

“Well, don’t expect me to come to the wedding!” he retorted, his voice rising. 

Clark appeared in the doorway, along with a nurse, who had obviously come to see what was upsetting her patient. She glared at Lois. 

“What is going on here?” she asked. “Are you upsetting my patient?”

Never mind that he was upsetting her with his vitriol. Lois stood up, leaving her father’s bedside to go to her fiancé. She turned and glared back at the old man. A tear fell as she stared at him.

“Well, don’t worry, Dad. Because unless you change your tune, you’re not invited to the wedding!” Clark reached for her hand and she squeezed his hand before walking out of the room.


	41. Chapter 41

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark has his say.

Clark was pissed at the general’s attitude and just as annoyed at the nurse. He understood the man was unwell, but he had heard enough of what Sam had been saying to his daughter to know exactly why Lois was upset. He had heard her sniffling as she left the room.

He watched as the nurse checked her patient, continuing to glare at him the whole time, as if she was blaming him for the man’s attitude.

“Sir, what right do you have to speak about me that way?”

The nurse paused in her work to once more glare at him, but he shook his head. 

“I’m going to have my say, whether it upsets the general or not. Sir, you have been hostile toward me from the moment we met and frankly, I’m not going to stand for it. I love your daughter and I know it takes a lot to upset her, but you’ve done just that.”

“Sir, you need to …”

He raised his hand. “Let me finish, nurse!” He again looked at the general. “Sir, I respect that you have served your country. Maybe I haven’t, and maybe you just see me as a spoiled rich brat. That’s your choice.”

“It’s my right to protect my daughter,” the man returned weakly. He was breathing hard, clearly agitated.

“It may be your right, but you’re wrong if you think we don’t belong together. I have tried to be pleasant. I can even understand why you don’t like me, but what I will not tolerate is you hurting Lois any more than you have done already.”

“I’m not hurting her.”

“No? You dragged her halfway around the world when she was growing up. She was practically raised by Green Berets and Navy Seals instead of a father. It was no wonder she was so prickly when I first met her. She never had one ounce of affection from you. She needed a father, not a commander. Maybe if you had tried to be one instead of focusing more on your career, you might have had a chance to fix things. I’m sorry that you had a heart attack, sir. I wish you the best for your surgery tomorrow.”

He turned and left the room. Lois was waiting in the corridor. She had clearly been crying. He wrapped his arms around her.

“It’s okay,” he said as she pressed her face into his chest.

“Can we just go home, Clark. Please?”

“Honey, maybe you should stay. At least until his surgery is over.”

“I don’t think I can. I can’t bear to hear him talk about you like that.”

He guided her over to a vacant room and sat her on the bed. The nurses hadn’t even made the bed, so he assumed it was free for the time being.

“Lois, I don’t care what he says about me. We both know none of it is true. What I care about is that he upsets you so much. But I think you would regret not being here if he didn’t make it through the surgery tomorrow. Maybe he doesn’t deserve it, but I think you need to be here anyway. For your own peace of mind.”

She sighed, heaving her shoulders. “You’re right. I would regret it. And I guess someone needs to be the bigger person.” She lifted her head and looked at him searchingly. “How can you be so calm about this? After what he said? I know you heard it.”

He squeezed her gently. “I know your father is never going to change his opinion about me. That’s fine. It’s you I worry about.”

“I’ll be okay,” she said. “I mean, yeah, I hate that he’s like that, but you’re right. He’s never going to change.”

“Why don’t we go out and see the city,” he suggested. 

“Honey, it’s forty degrees out there.”

He grinned. “I’ll keep you warm.”

He took her out to see some of the sights of the capitol. Lois had been to D.C a few times but had never really taken the time to see the city. They explored the museums of the Smithsonian and walked around the mall. Clark had arranged to meet Senator Jennings in the Capitol Building during the Senate session’s mid-afternoon break. 

They stood in the foyer, waiting for the senator. Lois frowned.

“Is that who I think it is?” she asked. 

Clark groaned. Lex. The bald man spotted them and walked over.

“Clark. Lois. You’re not covering the meetings are you?”

Clark shook his head. They hadn’t heard about any committee meetings, but since he hadn’t been at work at the Planet for a couple of days, that was no surprise.

“My father’s in the hospital,” Lois told him. “Heart attack.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” the other man said, his face almost expressionless. He clearly didn’t care at all. 

Jack waved at them from the bank of elevators and came over. 

“Clark,” he said, reaching out to shake Clark’s hand. 

“Senator.”

Jack looked at Lex. “Here for the Appropriations Committee meetings?” he asked. 

“Yes, as a matter of fact,” the bald billionaire returned coolly. 

“How nice for you,” the senator replied, just as coolly. He guided them away from Lex, who appeared to snort and walked away. 

“So, I talked to my building manager. He’ll let you two into the apartment. Take as much time as you need.”

“We really appreciate this, Senator,” Lois told him quietly.

He huffed. “Lois, how many times have I told you to call me Jack?”

She grinned back at him. “Oh, only a few more.”

He laughed and shook his head. “Got a tiger by the tail there, Clark,” he said. 

“She’s certainly a handful,” Clark replied, earning himself a nudge from his fiancée. “I wish you could come to the wedding.”

“Yeah, me too, but afraid I’m not going to have much time with the campaign. Gonna have my hands full running against that guy,” he added, gesturing toward Lex who was talking on his phone to someone and gesticulating angrily. 

Clark was tempted to eavesdrop but decided against it. 

“Well, anyway, I need to get back, but here’s the address,” the senator said, handing Clark a slip of paper. He leaned over to kiss Lois’ cheek. “I hope everything goes well with your dad. I won’t see you two tonight. Got to fly on the red-eye tonight back to Kansas. No rest for the wicked,” he added with a wink. 

Lois chuckled in amusement as the dark-haired senator left them. 

“I really like Senator Jennings,” she said. 

“Yeah, I do too,” Clark replied. “Come on. Let’s go get something to eat.”

Just as they finished their coffees at a café, his Justice League communicator went off. He sighed. 

“What is it?” Lois asked quietly. 

“Dunno. They wouldn’t contact me unless it was an emergency.”

“Go,” she instructed. “I’ll meet you at Jack’s.”

He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Okay. See you in a bit.”

He left the café and found a secure area where he could change into his uniform before taking off into the sky. 

He was at Watchtower within minutes, flying through the main observation window, which had been kept open for just this purpose.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“Bridge collapse,” Bart told him. He was clearly on duty. “It looks bad.”

Clark glanced at the screen where the satellite had beamed images of the accident. It was a satellite owned by Queen Industries and developed specifically for picking up emergency situations. 

A bridge on the Autobahn had collapsed, taking several vehicles with it, both above and below. 

He didn’t hesitate, taking off once again and flying to the location. Emergency workers were already there, trying to free people trapped in their vehicles. Clark began working alongside them, x-raying the rubble to see if he could find anyone buried alive. 

One of the bridge supports still standing began giving way and looked like it was going to collapse on top of a bus which had already been partially crushed. Several passengers were clearly wounded. Clark called to the workers.

“Get those people away from the area,” he shouted in German. “I’ll see what I can do to stop it falling.”

He knew it was only going to be a matter of time before the support fell but he flew under it and used his strength to hold it up long enough for the medics and the small contingent of soldiers to pull the people out of the bus.

As two of the workers managed to get to the last of the passengers, he heard a sound he’d been dreading. Another part of the bridge was about to fall on top of the bus. The four people were directly under it. He knew his options were limited.

Shouting once more to everyone else to get clear, he let go of the support and sped to cover the others, taking the full impact of at least a ton of concrete and steel debris. A cloud of dust went up, spreading through the air. 

The first he was aware that the people under him were okay was someone coughing from the dust. He blinked and lifted dust-coated lashes to see all four of them lying on the ground. 

More workers came to help the others to their feet. They had a few cuts and bruises but they were nothing serious. One of the bus passengers grabbed his hand and sobbed her thanks, tears creating dirty tracks on her face. 

“Superman!”

He looked up, realising he was being called. Another of the bus passengers had been badly wounded in the initial collapse. The medics were working on her. Clark couldn’t help but notice she was very pregnant and probably very close to term.

“She’s gone into labour,” the medic explained when he reached the man’s side. “We don’t know if she …” He lowered his voice. “If she’ll make it.”

A quick x-ray told him all he needed to know. The woman had massive internal bleeding. If only he’d got there much faster, he thought, even knowing that there was no way he could have predicted this would happen. 

“I’ll take her.” He called Bart on his commlink and told him what had happened. “Guide me to the nearest hospital,” he said.

He gently lifted the woman in his arms and flew her to the hospital, leaving her in the care of the staff. He returned to the scene and continued to help those working to find more people trapped in the rubble. 

It began to rain, hampering their efforts, as smaller bits of concrete became so wet it turned into mud. Police and fire fighters worked side by side, handing off the wounded to the medics.

Clark pulled a large piece of concrete from the top of one car, dismayed to find the vehicle’s roof had completely caved in. The driver had been trapped behind the wheel, his head slashed open by a rebar. Behind him sat a small boy, no older than two years old. His skull had been crushed. 

It was pitch dark when he flew back to the States. Instead of flying to Watchtower he flew immediately to DC, needing the comfort of his fiancee’s presence. Lois was curled up on the couch in Jack’s apartment, watching the tv. She looked up when he came in. 

“Clark? Oh, God, you’re a mess!”

He looked down at his uniform. He’d always wondered how the fabric withstood things like wind velocity when he was flying, or when bullets bounced off him. Jor-El had explained that as he’d grown stronger, his body had created a sort of shield extending a few millimetres from his skin. It was almost as if the uniform was some kind of second skin. 

That didn’t protect it from stains, however. He was covered in mud and what looked suspiciously like blood. 

“I’ve been watching the news,” she said. “It looked pretty bad.”

“It was,” he told her. “I’m just gonna go shower and change my clothes.”

She frowned at him. “Don’t you normally change at Watchtower?”

“I just needed … needed to see you.”

Her expression changed and she immediately appeared to understand. She took his hand.

“Come on. Let’s get you in the shower, darling.”

She went with him to the guest bathroom and started the water in the shower. Clark began to take off his clothes. 

“You’ll get mud everywhere,” she said gently, pushing him under the water. He frowned at her as she undressed and got in the shower with him. 

She slowly peeled off the sodden uniform, dumping it on the floor before grabbing the soap and rubbing it over him. He surrendered to her loving ministrations, his arms around her. He sighed softly and leaned down to press his lips to hers.

“Don’t go getting amorous, Superman,” she warned. 

“Why? You expecting somebody else?” He kissed her again, pulling her close, his hands caressing her body. 

“Stop it!” she said. She moaned softly as he massaged her butt. “Oh God, I hate it when you do that.”

“You love it when I do that,” he told her. He lifted her so she wrapped her legs around his waist. He sucked on the skin at her throat and she groaned again. 

“Clark!”

“Lois!”

It wasn’t long before the steam in the room was for a completely different reason than the hot water. 

Later, dressed in pyjama pants, Clark ate the omelette Lois had cooked for him. It wasn’t bad. Maybe just a little burned on the outside, but he didn’t care. 

They curled up together and watched the news on the television. The broadcast was full of stories of the workers who had risked their own lives to rescue the victims of the bridge collapse.

“The death toll rose to twenty-one a short time ago. A victim, who was heavily pregnant, died in hospital shortly after giving birth to a baby boy. The woman had been flown to hospital by Superman. He has not been able to be reached for comment.”

Lois looked at him. “That’s so sad,” she said. 

He sighed. “Yeah. I think her internal injuries were just too great.”

“You know, I remember last Christmas when you had that volcano eruption in Guatemala and people were criticising you for not being there to help when some bank robbers took people hostage.”

He shrugged. “I knew when I started doing this that there would always be hard choices like that. I also knew that sometimes, I would not be able to save everyone. As much as it hurts, as much as my powers can do, it’s not always enough.”

She squeezed his thigh. “I never really thought about how complicated your life is.”

He kissed her. “Lois, even as complicated as my life can get, you will always come first.” He looked away for a second. “I look at the way your father treated you and I know how much that hurt you. I promise you I will never let that happen to us, or any children we might have.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Superman's rescue was inspired by real-life events.


	42. Chapter 42

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois talks to Lucy about their father

Lois logged into her email and saw there was one from Lucy. Her sister was clearly anxious from the tone of her message, which asked if it was okay to talk for a bit. She saw Lucy was online when she logged into her video messaging.

“Hi,” she said when Lucy answered.

Her sister looked worried.

“How’s Dad?”

“He’s okay. He’s going for surgery today.”

“Oh. What time?”

“Uh, I’m not sure. About noon, I think.” She glanced toward the bedroom but the door was still closed. “Clark’s still asleep. We were up late last night.”

“Okay.” She paused, studying Lois. “Are you guys okay?”

“You really want to know? Dad hates Clark.”

Lucy looked surprised. “What? Why?”

“I don’t know. Something about him being a superhero sympathiser. You know how Dad hates superheroes.”

“That’s still a really lame excuse for hating Clark,” her sister replied. She paused, looking a little uncertain. “I sort of have to confess something. I really wasn’t sure of him when I first met him, but I guess maybe I was a little intimidated by him.”

“Intimidated? Lucy …”

“I know, I know. I mean, now that I’ve got to know him, he’s like a big teddy bear. He’s just such a sweet guy and I can see how much he loves you. And he’s always been really nice to me, you know? That’s really rare.”

Lois nodded. Clark had been a little concerned when she had told him she was going to meet up with her sister on a regular basis, but after they’d met up for dinner at his apartment a few times he had realised Lucy was being totally sincere in her remorse. He had recognised that the younger Lane had been initially worried about what they would both think of her after having behaved so badly before.

“Lo, I’m just … I’m so glad you forgave me for everything I did.”

“Luce, that’s in the past now,” she said, looking up as the bedroom door opened and Clark came out, his hair all mussed.

“I have to get ready for work, but … I love you, sis,” Lucy said.

“I love you too. I’ll text you when Dad gets out of surgery, okay?”

“Okay. We’ll talk later.”

Lois signed off as arms snaked around her waist and her fiancé pressed a kiss to her neck.

“I’m a teddy bear, huh?”

“You heard that?” she asked, twisting to look up at him.

He pointed to his ear. “Super-hearing, remember?”

“You know that’s sort of cheating, right?”

“Ahh, sue me. Let’s go out for breakfast.”

She looked him up and down. He was wearing pyjama bottoms and nothing else.

“Go out like that and you’ll have flocks of women chasing you.”

He looked down at himself and grinned sheepishly. “I guess I should get some clothes on. Be right back.”

She barely had time to blink before he was back, dressed in a dark blue shirt and jeans.

“Show off!”

He waited as she shut down the computer. “I thought you’d be lying in,” she said.

“Mom called. She wanted to know how things were. I didn’t mention what happened with your dad yesterday.”

“Good. Because if I know your mother, she’d come charging to DC to give him a piece of her mind.”

“She would too.”

They left the apartment and decided on a diner just down the street. Lois saw a news-stand and figured she’d pick up a copy of the morning edition of the Daily Planet. The paper always had two editions. One for early morning and the other for early afternoon. As she paid for the paper, her gaze caught a headline from another paper.

_Drama in Bethesda Hospital as Lane Senior Goes For Major Surgery_

Lois grabbed the paper and handed the man some more coins. They entered the diner and were seated almost immediately. She unfolded the paper on the table.

“Ugh! I can’t believe this!”

_It appears there is no love lost between Clark Queen and his future father-in-law._

_The two men faced off as General Sam Lane lay in his hospital bed at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center._

_The four-star army general was admitted Wednesday afternoon in a critical condition after what sources say was a cardiac event._

_His eldest daughter, Lois Lane and her fiancé, Clark Queen, were seen arriving at the hospital around ten pm EST._

_However, this reporter has heard that not all is rosy in Lane’s relationship with her father and that the two have not been on good terms for several years._

_Sources also claim that Lane has not invited the general to her wedding, to be held mid-May, due to her father’s apparent ‘hostility’ toward her husband-to-be, who, also according to our sources, is a known ‘superhero sympathiser’._

_The general has been scheduled for bypass surgery today._

Lois was quietly fuming, even as the server asked what she would like to eat.

“Lois, honey, ignore it. The lady here would like to know what you would like for breakfast.”

She chewed on her lower lip. “Uh, pancakes?” she said. “With, um …” She glanced quickly at the menu in front of her. “Boysenberry syrup?”

The server nodded. Clark had clearly already given his own order as she turned on her heel and left to see to another table. Lois saw she had a tablet with a stylus which obviously made it easier to give orders to the kitchen.

She again looked at the article. There was really nothing in the article that she could say that wasn’t true, but it still galled that a private conversation, or more or less a confrontation between them and her father, was now the subject of speculation in the press.

Clark read over the article himself. “Well, it is true,” he said.

“I know, but …”

“Sweetheart, it wouldn’t be the first time someone has done something like this. And not just to us. There’s little point in getting upset over it.”

“I just … is this what it’s going to be like now? I mean, are we going to have to be on our guard all the time?”

“Not all the time,” he said. He looked down at the paper, studying the front page. It was not exactly the Metropolis Inquisitor, but was just as bad, Lois thought. She chewed on her lip, trying to remember if the paper was sold in the city. Then again, there was always online.

“Oh God,” she said, her eyes widening. “I just realised something. If your mom sees this, or the online version …”

Clark’s phone rang and he looked at the screen before looking up at her. His face paled.

“Oh no!”

“Your mom?” she asked.

“Yep! Batten down the hatches. Hurricane Moira’s about to strike.” He swiped the screen and picked up the call. “Mom, now before you … Yes, Mom. We just saw it. Mom … Well, technically it is true, but … Mom, you do not need to do that. Mom! What kind of language is that? Well, sure I’ve heard you say it before, but not quite in that context. No, Mom! We do not need you to talk to the general. Besides, the man’s going for major heart surgery today. Mom, please. We really do not need to start World War Three. Well, the way you’re talking, it’s as if you’re about to launch a missile strike against the man. Yes, Mom, she’s right here.”

He held out the phone. “She wants to talk to you.”

Lois held back a giggle. Clark might be the most powerful man on Earth but even he could be intimidated by his mother when she was in full force. She took the phone.

“Mom?”

“Hi, sweetie.”

“Uh, so I’m guessing you saw that article.”

“Yes, I did, and I’m going to talk to my attorney and get that reporter fired.”

“You don’t need to do that. Yes, it was a gross invasion of privacy, but suing the paper won’t change what’s happened.”

“Tell me, darling, was it really that bad with your father?”

“Yeah. I mean, if I had to make excuses for him, I would say he was in some pain, but … he’s always been that way about Clark.”

“Well, the man is an idiot. One day he is going to see what he’s missing and it will be far too late. I really should give him a piece of my mind.”

“Mom, you really don’t have to go to defcon one. I mean, yeah, I’m upset at his attitude, but he’s not going to change.”

“Well, I think you’re doing the right thing by staying there. At least until you know he’s going to be okay. He may not think it right now, but he will see that one day.”

She found herself smiling at the love in the older woman’s voice. Moira Queen had been on her side from the beginning and she would always be grateful for the way she had been welcomed into the family.

The server had returned with their breakfasts and was placing them on the table.

“Mom, our breakfasts are up.”

“All right, sweetie. You know where I am if you need me.”

She hung up and smiled at her fiancé. “Crisis averted,” she said.

He grinned back at her. “I don’t know how you do it, but she listens to you. She never listens to me.”

“Well, maybe I just have a way with her.”

She had to admit that she got a kick out of the fact that Moira listened to her more. She had always felt there had been some kind of connection between them from the moment she’d met Clark’s mother.

It had been two days before her cousin’s wedding. _Chloe had brought her future mother-in-law with her to pick Lois up at the Star City airport. A limousine had been waiting at the pick-up area of the terminal as she emerged._

_“Lois!”_

_Chloe had got out of the car. She’d let her blonde hair grow out a little and now it was sleek and straight, softly framing her oval face._

_The two girls hugged fiercely. Chloe had moved to Star City a year before and Lois had missed her._

_She looked up as a woman with shoulder-length blonde hair approached. Chloe turned and smiled._

_“Lois, this is Moira Queen. Ollie’s mother.”_

_“Mrs Queen.” Lois spoke casually but politely._

_“Oh,” the older woman said, waving her hand. “Call me Moira. Chloe has told me so much about you I feel like we know each other already.”_

_Surprised by the Queen matriarch’s down-to-earth-ness, Lois had sat quietly in the car as her cousin and mother-in-law chatted. Chloe was clearly full of nervous excitement about her wedding._

_“So, um, who else is going to be at the wedding?” she asked tentatively._

_Moira sighed. “Well, sadly, my youngest son, Clark, isn’t going to be able to be there.”_

_“Why not?” Lois asked. “You’d think he’d want to be there.”_

_“He’s away. On business,” Chloe said._

_Lois didn’t understand, thinking that if Clark was as close to his brother as Chloe had told her he was, he’d want to be there for his brother._

_“What about the best man?” she asked._

_“A friend of theirs is standing up for Clark,” Moira said._

_Later, in the salon of the mansion, the three women shared a bottle of wine._

_“So, Lois, Chloe tells me you’re a successful journalist at the Daily Planet.”_

_She nodded. “Yeah. I love it. I mean, it can get exciting, sometimes, getting to expose the truth about bad guys, but it feels like I’m making a difference. In a small way.”_

_“Tell me about some of the stories you’ve done.”_

_“Well, this one wasn’t doing any sort of investigative journalism, but it was still pretty great. I mean, it was sad, because the guy died and everything, but … See, what happened was this guy drowned. He never should have gone out on the water, because the weather was so bad. Anyway, the rescue people had to go and get him, risking their own lives.”_

_“That is a tragic story,” Moira said._

_She nodded. “Anyway, I got nominated for a Press Club award and I won because of it.”_

_“Wow! That really is something to be proud of.”_

_“I know my mom would have been so proud of me too.”_

_She didn't give details and the older woman didn't press her for any. Over the next couple of days she went shopping with Chloe and Mrs Queen and found that the Queen matriarch was not only a lovely woman but she had a personality to match. She was kind and generous. There were glimpses of a woman who was used to getting things done and having things her own way but considering the family's wealth, that was hardly surprising. She was also the type of woman who was willing to go into bat for those she considered family or friends she was very close to. Lois found she had a lot in common with Moira and liked spending time with her._

She was so glad that in three months’ time she was going to be an official member of the family.

Clark looked at her. “What’s that smile for?” he asked lovingly.

“Just thinking about the first time I met your mom. It was like … I don’t know. Like she understood me on some level, you know?”

“She thinks the world of you,” he agreed. “She’s always saying you have a good heart.”

She reached for his hand across the table and squeezed it.

“I guess that’s why we’re so good together. Because you have a heart to match.”

He grinned. “Lois Lane, are you turning into a sap?”

“Me? Never!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story Lois tells Moira about is actually based on something I got an award for when I was a journalist.


	43. Chapter 43

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark and Lois worry about the General

It was late that afternoon and almost dark before they got the call from the hospital telling them that the General was out of surgery. He would still be in recovery for a couple of hours and Lois decided there was little point in going to visit until he was back in his room. 

Clark knew she wasn’t looking forward to seeing her father after what had happened the day before, but he still felt it was the right thing to do. Even if her father wasn’t going to change his mind now, he might have cause to re-think his attitude later and would remember that his daughter was there for him during his heart surgery. 

They had spent the day exploring other areas of DC, taking a tour of some of the monuments. Clark had dawdled a little at the Vietnam War Memorial. His father had once told him that a cousin had gone over to Vietnam and had lost his life there. He looked for the name on the wall among the inscriptions of all the others and traced over the name. Jonas Robert Queen. Oliver’s middle name was Jonas in honour of the cousin. 

Lois had found the name of a nurse who had died with the same last name as hers and wondered aloud if she had been a relative. 

Clark had been reminded of his first meeting with Lois’ father when he’d suggested the Justice League should be working for the government. He had told the man then and still believed that superheroes should not be made to take sides in such conflicts, or use their powers in battles where other people, no matter who they were, would be killed. 

He’d always felt superheroes should be non-partisan and he was never going to change his opinion. 

The nurse called Lois as they were eating dinner at a local restaurant and told her General Lane was back in his room in the ICU. She would be allowed to visit, but only for a few minutes. 

They arrived at the hospital a little after seven. Clark followed his fiancée as she made her way up to the ward. The nurse on duty at the station intercepted her and spoke quietly for a few moments. Lois glanced at him before following the woman to her father’s room. 

Lois returned five minutes later looking worried but at least not upset. 

“Everything okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, he’s just … God, Clark, he looks so … small.”

He nodded. It had to be difficult for her, seeing the man who had raised her looking so ill, so vulnerable. Especially when she was used to seeing him almost larger than life. 

“He’s just been through major surgery,” he reminded her quietly. It was bound to have taken its toll on the man. 

“Yeah, I know. It’s just hard seeing him like that.” She sighed. “Let’s go back to the apartment.”

When they entered the apartment they saw the senator had also returned.

“Hey kids,” he greeted them. “I just got back.” He smiled at Lois. “How’s your dad?”

“He’s hanging in there, I guess.”

“Yeah, heard about the surgery and I saw the story.”

Clark sighed. “Oh. That. Unfortunately, it’s not all untrue.”

“So, I’m guessing the old man doesn’t take to you very well,” Jack said in the same good ol’ boy way that Jonathan always spoke. The older man poured them both a glass of scotch. 

They sat down on the couch while Jack took the recliner.

“You should ask Jon about the time he hit ol’ Bill Clark,” he said.

Lois stared at him. “What? Mr Kent did what?”

The senator laughed. “Yeah. See, William, Martha’s dad, was this big-time corporate lawyer in Metropolis. Well, he wanted Martha to study law, but she wasn’t interested. Especially when she fell for Jon. So, Jon goes up to the old man’s office to ask for his blessing to marry his daughter and when Bill refused they got into a fight. Martha says they didn’t talk for a long time after that. Not until the kids came along.”

Clark stared at his uncle’s best friend. “I didn’t know that.”

Jack shrugged. “Yeah, well, Jon’s kinda embarrassed about it, to be honest. He’s always had a bit of a temper on him. Knew that when we got into a fight in high school. You know he used to date Nell Potter? She was the one who broke it off after he chose to stay on the farm instead of playing football with the Sharks.”

That didn’t surprise him in the least. Nell wouldn’t have been satisfied with farming life. 

He was grateful for his own upbringing. His parents had taught him that having money or abilities like his didn’t make someone a better person or superior to another person who had less. Jonathan had always taught him that hard work kept a man honest and he lived by that rule. 

Lois was quiet as they lay in bed that night.

“Everything okay, honey?” he asked.

“I’m fine. Just thinking. Isn’t it funny how Martha’s dad hated Jonathan?”

“Yeah, I know. Just like your dad.”

“Do you think he’ll come around? My dad?”

“I don’t know. I mean, if I was being optimistic, I would think this heart attack might be the thing to make him see the light. But that might be wishful thinking.”

“At least Lucy is on my side,” she said.

He hugged her and lay thinking as she drifted off to sleep. He had heard enough of the conversation earlier that morning to understand now why Lucy had been a little standoffish with him when they’d first met. He hadn’t tried to be intimidating and had gone out of his way to be nice to her, which Lois had certainly appreciated. 

He just wasn’t sure he liked being described as a ‘teddy bear’.

He was tense as they returned to the hospital again the next day. The nurse on duty was the same one who had been there the day before the general’s surgery and warned them not to upset her patient. Never mind, Clark thought, about him upsetting Lois. He was tempted to ask her if she had been the one to say something to the media, but considering the breach of her patient’s privacy, he figured she would know it wasn’t worth her job.

Lois’ father was sitting up, but was clearly not out of the woods. He looked displeased to see them.

“Figured you would have gone back to Kansas,” he said hoarsely.

“I thought about it,” Lois told him. “But I’m here.”

“If you think I’m going to apologise …”

She held up a hand. “No, Dad. For one thing, you think saying you’re sorry is a weakness, and you don’t have time for weakness. I learned that a long time ago.”

Clark heard the pain in her words as well as the pointed barb. She was not taking any prisoners. 

“I decided to stay because that’s what we Lanes do. We don’t back down in the face of an enemy.”

“Am I your enemy now?” he asked weakly. 

“If you continue to treat Clark the way you do, yes. Clark and I are getting married in three months. I am old enough to decide who I want in my life and who I don’t. If you choose not to accept Clark as the man I love, then you can consider yourself the latter. You brought this on yourself, Dad.”

Clark stayed silent, knowing she needed to say her piece. The general took the rebuke quietly, but when she finished he turned to Clark.

“You just gonna stand there and say nothing?”

“Mostly. I do have one thing to say. My mother taught me to respect my elders, but frankly sir, respect has to be earned. She also said something else. ‘If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all’. I’m just following her example. But believe you me, you do not want to face my mother when she’s protecting her family. Lois included.” He smiled at his fiancée, who returned the look. 

“I’ve looked death in the face many times on the battlefield. Your mother doesn’t scare me, Queen.”

Lois smirked. “You haven’t met her and the way things are going, you’re not likely to. I was prepared to give you a chance, Dad, but I should have known you’d be too stubborn. We’re going back to Metropolis tonight. I can’t take any more time off work.”

“Then go,” the man growled. “I have no use for you.”

Clark could see from her expression as she turned away from her father that she was barely keeping her anger in check. He followed her as she left the room, refusing to even acknowledge the old man. 

Instead of heading to the exit, Lois wandered the hospital corridors. Clark guessed she was just trying to work off some steam. She obviously wasn’t paying attention to where she was going but somehow they ended up at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. 

Lois paused to stare through the glass at the premature babies in the incubators. Clark stood with her, his arm around her waist. She was silent, watching as the staff cared for the infants.

“We don’t have to go back to Metropolis,” Clark told her quietly. “If you want to stay …”

“There’s no point now,” she said. “He’s not going to change.”

“Yes, but we knew that already.”

“I came because I … Oh, it doesn’t matter why I came. Now that I know he’s going to be all right, my conscience is clear.”

He knew what she had been going to say. She had hoped for some kind of reconciliation with her father, thinking that his health problem might have led to some sort of change of heart for him. 

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I know you were hoping for a different outcome.”

“I meant what I said. If he refuses to change then I don’t need him in my life. I have you,” she replied, turning to him. “Just promise me that if we ever have kids, if anything does happen to me, you won’t do the same thing he did.”

“I promise,” he told her, without arguing the point that he would never let anything happen to her. 

On the plane home, she cuddled close to him.

“I’ve been thinking about something.”

“About what?”

“The bridge. About the mother that died after giving birth.”

“Okay.”

“I was thinking we should make some enquiries about the little boy. The news report the other day said the mother had no living relatives and the baby would be raised in an orphanage.”

“You want to do something?”

“I want to adopt him,” she said. “If it’s possible.”

It wasn’t going to be easy. Even if the boy wasn’t adopted immediately, he had been born in another country. There would be a lot of hoops they would have to jump through. It might take some time, but if she really wanted it, then he wasn’t going to refuse her. 

Lucy met them at the airport. She hugged Lois, then stood back, eyeing her critically. 

“You look a little tired, sis,” she said.

“Yeah, it’s been a rough couple of days.”

The other woman bit her lip, looking a little anxious. 

“Uh, it might get a little rougher. There’s a story being circulated online about Dad. Something about Clark being rude.”

Clark looked at her. “What?”

“Yeah,” she said quietly. “I don’t believe a word of it. I mean, I know you, and you don’t have a rude bone in your body. But it was talking about how you were telling off a sick man. The article is slanted to make you look like the bad guy.”

“Who wrote it?” Lois asked. 

“Some guy named Donner.”

Clark sighed. “He’s had it in for us from day one because of the debacle over the …”

“Non-date date,” Lois finished. “He hates the Queens,” she told her sister. “We think it might have something to do with Lex.”

“Why? Because he …”

“Because Lois has tried to expose his …”

“… bad business practices,” Lois finished, glancing at him.

Lucy stared at them, cracking a smile. “Okay, you two are getting kind of scary. You’re finishing each other’s sentences.” She sighed. “Um, so I called your mom, Clark. She’s furious.”

Clark looked at Lois. They needed to do damage control before his mother made things worse. 

***

Oliver wasn’t surprised Clark had called a family meeting the day after the story had come out about the confrontation with the general. He and Chloe left Conner, albeit reluctantly, with the nanny and flew to Metropolis. 

Clark and Lois were already waiting in the clock tower apartment, along with Moira. The housekeeper had been given a half-day.

“So, what do you want to do about it?” Oliver asked his brother. 

“We can’t file suit,” Clark said. “It’s not so much the wording of the story as the angle.”

“Technically there’s nothing defamatory in the story,” Lois added. “We already talked with the Planet’s attorney and he didn’t think it would hold up in court.”

Oliver nodded. While there had been some minor issues with the press when he and Chloe had got married, it had been nothing like this. He felt sympathy for Lois, and her sister. The general could not exactly be called ‘father-of-the-year’. 

“We can’t just ignore it,” Chloe pointed out.

Moira looked more than a little upset. “I’d really like to give that man a piece of my mind!” Oliver glanced at his mother, then at his brother, who sighed audibly. Obviously this wasn’t a newsflash. He knew what his mother was like. She was normally fairly easy-going, until something happened to hurt one of her children.

“We don’t know for sure that Dad’s spoken with the press in DC,” Lois told her gently. “The article didn’t quote him directly.”

“I bet it was that nurse,” Moira replied. 

Clark shook his head. “We don’t want to jump to conclusions, Mom. If she did, it would be a gross breach of patient privacy and considering she’s a military nurse, she could lose both her job and be dishonourably discharged.”

“That’s true,” she conceded. 

“I have an idea,” Lois said. “It sounds a little out there, but … I think we should get Cat to do an interview.”

Clark looked at her. “Cat? You two practically come to blows the minute you lay eyes on each other.”

“Which makes her the best person for the job,” Lois told her fiancé. “She can be impartial and she is a good writer. When she wants to be.”

Oliver looked at her dubiously. “I don’t … know,” he said, drawing out the last word a little. “Shouldn’t be just ignore it? Like last time?”

“I think ignoring it is the last thing we should be doing,” Chloe told him quietly. “If we keep saying ‘no comment’ it is just going to fan the flames. I think they need to say something.”

Clark and Lois looked at each other, both nodding their agreement. 

Oliver was still not sure about it but agreed to it. Two days later the article appeared in the Daily Planet. He was impressed with Lois’ forthrightness as she told of how she had been brought up and what had really happened during the confrontation. 

Lois had been right to ask Cat to write the article, he thought. She had remained a neutral party but it had helped as it had presented the facts without bias. 

The best part about the article was that Cat had managed to get a comment from the general. Sam Lane had denied talking to any media and told her the whole thing was a private matter between him and his daughter. He had never approved any comments made to any newspaper and promised a few heads would roll if anyone on his staff or at the hospital had breached his privacy. He still wasn’t apologising for the way he had treated Lois or Clark, but it helped their case.


	44. Chapter 44

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois gets a call from her sister

Donner had never been the type to let go. Despite Cat’s article, the other reporter seemed to have decided to wage a war against them. Each article or opinion piece he published seemed to make even more outrageous claims as the weeks passed.

Lois had heard from a contact at Bethesda that the General was slowly recovering although he refused to follow his doctor’s orders and slow down or give up smoking his cigars. The one good thing that had come out of it was that he refused to make any comment in the media about the situation. Clark had been right about one thing. The fact that she had stayed through the surgery had stood in her favour where her father was concerned. While he clearly refused to back down over his attitude toward Clark, he acknowledged that she had cared enough to be there for him. 

The hype over the wedding was starting to get on her nerves. Every day she came into work, there were new emails offering deals on wedding dresses, reception venues, photography. So much for the quiet wedding they had both wanted, she thought with a sigh as she deleted yet another batch of emails. 

Clark had ordered all her calls to be screened, but that didn’t stop a few from trying to get through on her direct dial. Or her cellphone. Most of the time she switched the phone off unless she needed it. Since Clark could use his super-hearing, she knew she didn’t need the phone in case something bad happened.

When her office phone rang, she glanced at the caller i.d. Not recognising the number, she hesitated, but picked it up.

“Lois Lane,” she said warily.

“Lois, it’s me.”

“Lucy?”

“Sorry, sis, I tried calling your cellphone, but …”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot, I had it switched off.”

“Are you still getting those calls?” her sister asked. “You’d think they’d have got the message by now. I mean, you have what, two weeks to go?”

“Yeah. Guess they missed the memo.”

“Well, listen, can you come down to the shop? Do you have time?”

She turned to her computer and began checking her appointments for the day. 

“Hmm, Clark and I have a cake-tasting at three. I have an interview at about one and I have a story to write for deadline, but I should have that done in about an hour.”

“Great!” Lucy replied. “So, I’ll see you about eleven-thirty?”

“Sounds good.”

She wondered why her sister wanted to see her. Lucy had done all the measurements and had even shown her a few sketches of the dress she had designed, but Lois was yet to see the actual physical thing. Given that there were only two weeks to the wedding, she had been a little worried that Lucy wouldn’t get it done in time. She knew her sister was busy with her studies as well as working part-time, but thankfully the design school had fully supported the idea, making it Lucy’s final project. 

Lois finished up her story and sent it off to be checked by the editor, then worked on writing up another interview in case Perry needed to question something in the article. 

When the deadline passed without any issues, she got up to leave, grabbing her jacket. It was almost May but it was a cool day. She had joked with Clark that they needed to find a new name for the season, being a combination of both winter and spring. 

As she started to head downstairs, she was intercepted by Cat. The blonde reporter blocked her way.

“Don’t go that way,” she said. “Donner’s out front. Probably trying to get a photo that makes you look bad.”

She looked at the other woman. Ever since she had asked Cat to write the article about her issues with her father, their working relationship had thawed somewhat. Especially after Cat had heard she had told her family the other woman was a good writer. 

“Thanks, Cat,” she said. She turned and headed down the corridor to find the back exit. Just as the blonde had warned, the man was waiting out the front. She wondered if he had some kind of bug on her phone, or else how would he have known she would be leaving. Then again, it wouldn’t be a stretch to think the man would just hang around like a vulture anyway. 

“Going somewhere?” 

She started and turned around to stare at her fiancé in his superhero uniform. While she liked the blue tunic with the red cape, which hid absolutely nothing, she much preferred him in his civilian clothes. There was something almost other-worldly about Superman. Naturally, she thought, since he was actually an alien. He’d once told her the uniform was a design similar to that of the clothing worn on Krypton. As much as she didn’t care about that part of his heritage, she understood why so many people were in awe of Superman. The look, although colourful, set him apart from everyone else. 

“Yes, I am,” she said. “And no, you’re not allowed to spy on me.”

“Would I do that?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“Well, Superman wouldn’t, but a certain fiancé of mine would.”

He tried to put on an innocent look but the sparkle in his eyes didn’t help. He might be considered a guardian angel to a lot of people, but he could be a devil when he wanted to. 

“Just do one little thing for me before you go,” he said, pulling her into the alleyway where they couldn’t be seen. 

She didn’t have time to object as he kissed her until she was dazed. She barely managed to gather her wits before looking up at him coyly.

“You know, I do have a fiancé,” she said.

“So you said.”

“You’d know him. Big, sexy guy. Goes by the name of Clark Queen.”

“Doesn’t ring any bells,” he replied, grinning. 

“I’ll ring your bell,” she murmured, pulling him close to kiss him. She moaned softly as they broke apart. “I really have to go. I have an appointment.”

“If you must,” he said with a sigh. 

“I really do have to.” She straightened her clothes which had somehow become mussed when they’d been making out. How did he always manage to do that, she wondered. “See, here I go. Leaving.” Yet she made no move to get away. 

Damn it. One look from him and she was like Jello. She always got lost in those beautiful eyes of his. Enough to make her forget what she was supposed to be doing.

It was a while before she finally remembered she was supposed to be meeting Lucy. 

Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, her sister knew her well enough to figure out what had caused the slight delay. She grinned knowingly, tapping her mouth with a finger. Lois realised her lipstick was smudged. She grumbled to herself, mentally noting to go and buy smudge-proof lipstick. 

“So, why did you want to meet here?” she asked.

Jenna emerged from the backroom, holding what was obviously a dress in a garment bag. Lois looked at her sister.

“You finished it?”

“Almost. We need you to try it on so we can make sure everything fits.”

Lois took the bag with trembling hands. She went to the dressing room and slowly opened the zipper. As the contents were revealed, she couldn’t help gasping in delight. 

The dress was strapless with a sweetheart neckline. The bodice was lace over satin leading down to a full-length tulle skirt.

She carefully put the dress on, walking in bare feet out to the front. Lucy was watching her boss deal with another customer but turned when Lois entered the room. The other customer stared.

“Oh, she looks beautiful!”

Lucy appeared to have tears in her eyes. “Lois, you look … amazing!”

She began fiddling with the bodice, making small adjustments here and there.   
“It needs a few adjustments, but … what do you think?”

“Luce, this dress is so beautiful. I can’t believe you did this for me. You have an amazing talent.”

“Yes, she does,” Jenna answered, beaming proudly as Lucy turned and hugged her boss. 

“You taught me,” she replied. 

“Your fiancé is one very lucky man,” the other customer told Lois. 

“I’m the lucky one,” she said. 

Lucy made her stand still while she completed the adjustments. Once she had taken the dress off and got dressed in her street clothes, Jenna told Lucy to take her lunch break. The sisters left the shop and headed for their favourite café.

“I can’t believe you’re getting married in two weeks,” Lucy said. “It’s come up so fast.”

“I know. Clark’s been asking me to move in with him. I mean, I’m going to. I guess I should get that sorted before the wedding. We’re going to be too busy with finalising all the details.”

Thankfully, she didn’t have to worry about bridesmaid’s dresses as Jenna, knowing Lucy would be too busy with Lois’ dress, had given her the name of a shop that specialised in bridal wear. Lois had asked her sister to be her maid of honour and Chloe to be her bridesmaid.

Oliver, of course, was Clark’s best man and Bruce was going to be his groomsman. As much as Lois would have liked her father to have walked her down the aisle, she knew he would never have come. 

As she and her sister finished their lunch, Jack and his sister Jess came into the café. Lois waved to them.

“Hi,” Jess said. “Hello Lucy.”

They’d had dinner with the Kents a few times and Lucy and Jess had become good friends. While Jess was studying art history at Met U, the two girls had found a common interest in fashion.

Jack smiled in greeting. “Wow, haven’t seen you in a while.”

“Yeah, it’s been busy. Wedding stuff.”

He nodded. “Only two weeks to go, right? You getting nervous?”

“Should I be?” she asked.

“Nah. You picked the right guy. Anyone can see how great you two are together. Oh, I meant to ask you. Is it okay if I bring a date to the wedding?”

“Of course you can. Anyone I know?” Lois asked. 

“Just a girl I met at school. She’s a senior.”

Jess raised her hand. “I’m bringing a date too, if that’s okay.”

Lois nodded. She was happy the two siblings had found dates. She still felt a little guilty that she’d basically dumped Jack when Clark had broken things off with Tess but he had always told her that he’d known from the start their dates were only ever going to be casual. 

When she returned to the office, she barely managed to avoid Donner, who was still camped out by the front entrance. Lois sneaked in through the back entry and spoke to security, who told her there was little they could do. The police had already had a word with Donner for loitering but he’d apparently pulled the ‘freedom of the press’ card and told them he had a right to be there. 

As annoying as it was, she knew there was little she could do about it. She made a note to tell Clark to avoid the main entrance when they had to go to the cake tasting. 

Later that day, she went upstairs to Clark’s office. He was just finishing up a meeting with Perry.

“Honey, we have to go,” she said. 

He looked up at her. “Oh, yeah. Forgot.” He smiled at Perry. “Cake tasting.”

“Go for chocolate,” Perry advised.

“Uh, actually, chocolate’s out. My mom’s allergic.”

Perry cocked his eyebrow. “Allergic to chocolate? That’s something I’ve never heard of before.”

Lois nodded at her editor. “Actually, I think it’s just sensitivity to the cacao bean. She gets these migraines that knock her out for half a day. But people can be allergic, it just depends on the ingredients, I think.”

“Well, you learn something new every day,” the older man responded. “Have fun with the cake tasting.” He shook his head. “Can’t believe you two are getting married in two weeks.”

“I wish it was tomorrow,” Clark said wistfully, giving her a look. 

“Why? Are you stressing out?” Perry asked.

“No, I just can’t wait until she’s all mine.”

Lois couldn’t help laughing. She’d been his from the moment she’d fallen in love with him, but she knew what he meant. It was definitely mutual. Clark often proclaimed that she was the only one who had the key to his heart. Sure, it was sappy, but then again, he was a born sap. 

“You are such a sap,” she said.

“You love me that way,” he replied.

Perry raised his hands. “Okay, I’m out of here. You two are so sweet I’m getting cavities.” He walked out with a huge grin on his face. 

Lois wrapped her arms around her fiance’s waist. 

“Guess we’re both saps,” she said. 

“Can I get that in writing?” he asked. She poked him in the ribs before tilting her head for his kiss. 

“I love you.”

He kissed her. “Let’s skip the cake-tasting and go home.”

“Oh no you don’t!” she scolded. “You’re going to this tasting if I have to drag you kicking and screaming.”

“Considering I have super-speed, I think you’d have a hard task catching me.”

“That, my darling, is called cheating.” She pulled out of his embrace and linked her arm with his, guiding him out of the office. “I’m not saying you have to enjoy the cake-tasting. You can sit there and look bored and miserable, but you are not, under any circumstances, allowed to answer any emergencies.”

Well, okay, there were some exceptions. Like if it was a natural disaster, or a major fire or crash. Anything else, the League would have to handle. 

“Yes dear,” he said with a sigh.


	45. Chapter 45

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the big day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song is Here and Now by Luther Vandross

Clark’s hand was inexplicably trembling as he tried to knot his tie. He stared in the full-length mirror, wondering why he was so nervous.

A tall blond-headed figure appeared behind him.

“C’mere,” his brother said. “Turn around.”

He complied, letting Oliver take the ends of the grey-striped tie and knot it for him in a full Windsor. He’d opted for a charcoal grey tuxedo jacket with white silk shirt for himself and his groomsmen.

He still couldn’t believe today was the day.

“Hey, relax little brother,” Oliver soothed. “She’ll be there.”

“I’m not worried about that. It’s just …”

“The League is on stand-by for any emergencies. All you and Lois have to do is remember to say your vows, enjoy yourselves at the reception, and go off for a nice relaxing honeymoon.”

“This really is it, isn’t it?” he said.

“Yeah, it is.”

He found himself thinking about the first time he’d met Lois. She’d been brash, bossy, almost rude, but there had always been a spark between them. She’d had to put up with a lot. Being stalked by the Paparazzi, the late-night emergency calls where he would be out for hours. Sometimes even days. Yet she never complained. She understood, probably more than anyone, the trials that came with being a superhero’s wife.

Oliver straightened his tie and smoothed down the sleeves of his jacket.

“You know, I was really nervous too when Chloe and I got married. I used to wonder what I’d ever done to deserve her and I worried.”

“About what?”

“About how she was handling the superhero thing. I mean, yeah, she knew I was Green Arrow before I actually met her, and she accepted it, but I worried that it might be too much for her to handle. You know what she said?”

“Tell me.”

“That it was her job as my wife to give me a reason to do what I do. To keep going, even when things got rough.

Clark nodded. Lois had said something similar a few days earlier.

_“I think about my mom and what she had to go through every time my dad went off on deployment. It had to be so hard. But you know, she remained stoic until that door closed because that was how she helped Dad do what he had to do. They were in it together. Just like you and I.”_

The door to his bedroom opened and his mother came in.

“It’s time to go to Smallville, sweetheart.”

“Thanks Mom. Did you …”

“Martha called about half an hour ago. Lois and the girls will be ready on time to meet you at the chapel.”

She hugged him and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“I’m so proud of you, darling.”

She fiddled with his tie. “You know, I remember when your father and I took you to get your uniform for Excelsior. You complained the whole day about having to wear a tie. What did your father say?”

Clark grinned. His father had told him a story about Louis XIII hiring Croatian mercenaries who wore cloth around their necks, mostly to keep their jackets fastened. The French king had liked the look so much he made it mandatory for men to wear them at Royal gatherings.

“He once told me some people thought it was a way of showing their superiority. Then he’d roll his eyes and laugh.”

Robert often made fun of the people in his social circle, especially those who thought having millions of dollars in their bank account made them better than anyone else. The worst one of all was Lionel, who his father had told him was little better than a thug. He could fake his background, dress in nice suits, but at the end of the day, he was still a kid from the slums who had made his fortune through lies and deceit. Not to mention murder.

Oliver had once told him he suspected Lionel might have had something to do with what had happened to cause him to be trapped on an island for two and a half years but neither one of them had ever been able to prove it.

“Dad would be so proud of you, Clark,” his brother said. “Not just for today, but … for everything. For who you’ve become.”

“He’d be proud of you too,” Moira said, smiling at her fair-haired son. “And I know he would have loved Lois. In a lot of ways, she reminds me a little of your father.”

“How?” Clark asked.

“She has the same boldness that made me fall in love with him. I think that’s why she and I became so close.”

“It’s not just her boldness that I love, Mom. Lois is … well, she’s the kind of woman who stands up for what she believes in, you know? She doesn’t just stand back and wait for someone else to do the right thing. She will dive right in, even when it might put her in danger.”

“She can be a handful, darling, but I think that’s what makes her so special.”

Oliver clapped a hand on his shoulder. “You know what, I think if anyone can handle a woman like Lois, it’s you.”

“Thanks,” he said, grinning at his brother. He looked at his mother. She was wearing a skirt and jacket in a soft blue that went well with her colouring. “You look great, Mom.”

“Thank you, darling. Now, let’s get this show on the road.”

***

Lois smoothed down the skirt, checking her reflection in the mirror. Lucy stood behind her, ready with the veil.

“It’s almost time, sis,” she said quietly.

She glanced at her sister’s reflection in the mirror. Lucy was wearing a long satin dress with beading on the bodice. The dusky pink worked perfectly with her colouring. It also suited Chloe, which was why Lois had chosen the design and the colour.

Chloe came in, holding Conner’s hand. They had decided that Conner would walk down the aisle just ahead of his mother. His job would be to carry a little basket holding the rings instead of flowers.

Lois looked her cousin over. They’d all had their hair styled by a woman who had brought in a team from Metropolis. The living room of the yellow farmhouse had been turned into a beauty salon, giving the stylists room to work. Chloe had opted for a French knot for her blonde hair.

Lois picked up her nephew. “You ready Conner?” she asked fondly. He grinned at her and babbled something. She still couldn’t quite understand his baby babble, but it didn’t matter.

Martha knocked on the door. “Girls, the limo is here.” She paused in the doorway. “Oh, you all look so beautiful!”

“So do you, Mrs Kent,” Chloe said. The older woman smiled. She’d chosen to wear a linen suit in cream with a pearl necklace. Her hair, once a fiery red, was flecked with grey. She’d opted to wear it down, the hairdresser giving it a blow-wave so it flowed softly, framing her face.

“Thank you for letting us stay here,” Lois said, moving to give Martha a brief hug.

“Oh, no, dear. It was our pleasure. Believe me, Clark and his family have always been part of our family too.” She grinned at Chloe before picking up Conner and giving him a hug. “I’m so happy you and Clark decided to get married in the chapel. It’s where Jonathan and I got married and it’s a lovely place.”

Lucy helped her fit the veil. “Have we forgotten anything?” she asked as they started to head for the door.

“Let’s see. I’ve got my something new: my dress. Something old: Mom’s pearls. Something borrowed: thanks for the loan of the bracelet, Chlo. And something blue.” She winked at her sister. “Well, Clark will find that later.” Lucy had given her a garter in pale blue. “The bouquets will be waiting for us at the chapel.”

“The rings?”

“Downstairs in Conner’s basket,” Martha said. She looked at Lois. “Are you nervous, sweetie?”

“Actually, no,” she said. She didn’t feel nervous. A little buzzed, maybe. Then again, she was marrying the man she loved.

She couldn’t help thinking back to the moment they’d met at the Ace of Clubs. She remembered watching him pace the lobby, appearing frustrated and annoyed. He’d been so tall, so handsome in his fitted tuxedo. She’d had to pause for a moment, trying to remind herself of the reason she was there. Sure, their blind date hadn’t exactly been successful, but it had all turned out all right in the end. She wouldn’t have traded those few months of friendship for anything as it had given her a chance to really get to know the man behind the stunning good looks.

Half an hour later, the limo arrived at the chapel. As expected, there were photographers everywhere. As well as the local law enforcement. The sheriff and her deputies were busy trying to keep order among the Press as Lois emerged from the limo with her sister and cousin.

“Geez, it’s like a Royal Wedding,” Lucy commented.

“Tell me about it,” Chloe returned. Conner babbled something to his mother, pointing at the photographers.

They quickly ascended the steps into the building. Lois noticed her nephew pausing on the top step and waving to the photographers, giving them a cheeky grin. She glanced at Chloe and chuckled at her cousin’s exasperated look.

“Just like his dad,” Chloe muttered.

They paused in the ante-room, making sure everything was perfect. Lucy peeked out into the chapel.

“Oh wow! Clark looks amazing! Who’s that guy with the dark hair standing with Ollie?”

They’d opted not to have a bachelor/bachelorette party and since Clark had been called to an emergency right before the wedding rehearsal, Lois had decided to skip it, so Lucy had never actually met Clark’s groomsman.

“That’s Bruce,” Chloe told her. “Bruce Wayne.”

Her eyes widened. “Bruce Wayne? He looks so different in person. Ooh, there’s Jimmy!” she added excitedly, pointing out her boyfriend.

She stood back as the door opened and Jonathan came in. Lois smiled at the older man. He was wearing a suit with a dark blue jacket and black pants.

“Ready?” he asked. When she had been trying to think who would walk her down the aisle, Moira had suggested Jonathan Kent. He had been more than happy to do it.

“I’m ready,” she said.

The music began to play and Chloe gently guided her son to the door, picking up her bouquet. The ushers held open the doors and she began following the little boy up the aisle.

Lucy smiled and followed their cousin within a few seconds. Lois took a deep breath and took the older man’s arm.

Everyone turned to watch as she began her walk down the aisle. Clark and his brother gazed at her calmly. Her husband-to-be smiled broadly as he saw her.

As she walked slowly toward the man she loved she heard the lyrics of the song they’d picked out for the ceremony.

 _I look_ in _your eyes and there I see_  
_What happiness really means_  
_The love that we share makes life so sweet_  
_Together we’ll always be_

Jonathan handed her over to Clark with a grin. Her hero leaned toward her and whispered: “You look beautiful.”

She smiled softly at him and turned to the female pastor. She couldn’t help smirking a little as the pastor began giving a long-winded speech about love and commitment, almost promising hellfire and brimstone along with it if things went wrong. After what seemed like a very long time, they were able to give their vows. Lois had been determined to write something rather than use the same old, love, honour and whatever.

She looked at Clark as he began to speak, holding her hands in a gentle but firm grip.

“I, Clark Joseph Queen, take you, Lois Lane as my best friend, my lover, my wife. I know that as long as I have you by my side, I will never feel alone. That you will always be there to give me strength when I need it most, to give me respite from the demands of our busy lives, as I will give my strength to you, as I will be there to provide support when you need it. I commit myself to you, body, heart and soul. Forever.”

She smiled softly at him, loving the earnestness in his expression. He meant every word.

It was her turn.

“Clark, I …” She faltered. She’d memorised her vows but as she looked at him, she wondered if what she had come up with was really the right thing to say. She took a deep breath and began again.

“Clark, when I was growing up, I spent a lot of time wondering what I had done wrong to make my father hate me and then I spent a lot of time doing the wrong thing. I realise now he never hated me. He just saw something of my mother in me that hurt him so badly he couldn’t face it. Maybe he still can’t.”

Even after every cruel thing her father had said to her, she knew now that it was true. He had lost her mother and had never got over it. Both his daughters had inherited many of their father’s traits but she realised that the General also saw a lot of their mother in them, and that was probably why he acted the way he did. He couldn’t let go.

She could see that Clark understood, even if no one else in the little chapel did, why she was saying this now.

“But I know now what it was. A love so powerful that not even time could heal him. That’s what I feel with you. We both have different strengths, but together, it’s something so powerful that nothing and no one can take it away from us. Clark, you’re my best friend, you’re my soul mate. I can’t imagine spending my life without you by my side, to be my strength when I need it, as I am yours.”

She felt a single tear slip down her face. Clark smiled and squeezed her hand. They once again turned to the pastor.

Chloe watched as they each said their ‘I dos’ and glanced at her husband. He smiled and winked at her, fulfilling his duty as he took Lois’ ring from the little basket Conner was holding and handed it to Clark. Lucy did the same, handing Clark’s ring to her sister.

She couldn’t help remembering her original idea to get Lois and Clark together. Little did she know just how successful a match it would be. They’d had their ups and downs, both together and apart, but once they’d fallen in love, nothing could ever keep them apart.

“You’re going to do that ‘I told you so’ thing, aren’t you?” Oliver said wryly.

They were watching Clark and Lois dance their first dance as a married couple at the reception. Chloe stared at her husband.

“What?”

“You’ve got that self-satisfied look on your face. Like you’re congratulating yourself.”

“I do not!”

“Yeah, you do. But that’s okay. Get it out of your system.”

“Well, I have to admit, I do think it was one of my more brilliant ideas.”

“Don’t go getting cocky, wife. I’d hate to imagine what would happen if you decided to take up match-making as a side deal.”

“Oh no,” she assured him. “One time only. Promise.”

She turned again to watch her cousin, who looked happy and so in love with her new husband. Clark and Lois were talking as they danced. From the look on her cousin’s face, he was whispering sweet nothings in her ear.

“Look at Conner,” Oliver said with a laugh.

Chloe followed his gaze and giggled softly. Moira had Conner in her arms and was dancing with him. The little boy was giggling at his grandmother’s antics.

“I got an idea. Let’s have another,” Oliver said.

“I’ll think about it,” she replied.

He turned and looked at her incredulously. “You’ll think about it?” he asked. “Well, I only have one thing to say about that.”

“What’s that?” she asked.

“Get over here, wife,” he said, pulling her into his arms before sweeping her out on the dance floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I know the way I'm ending it has been done many times but as this was meant to be more concentrated on the romance between them, it just felt an appropriate time to do so. There will be an epilogue which I will post shortly as well. 
> 
> Is Lois being too reasonable about her father? The amateur psychologist in me doesn't think so. The way Sam behaves towards his daughters suggests to me that the man not only can't face life alone without his wife, and second, probably blames himself for his failure to save Ella, even though that would actually have been impossible. Hence, his distance.
> 
> This was a different way of me doing this type of story in that I focused on the idea of a couple who become well-known in the media and the hype that can surround them, especially in the age of social media. This was inspired by the wedding of Prince Harry.


	46. Chapter 46

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark and Lois have a surprise for the family

Epilogue

The interviewer was blonde, aged somewhere in her forties. Clark had watched a few of her shows but hadn’t really liked the woman’s style. She was highly critical and didn’t mince words. Lois often compared her to a barracuda in heels.

The woman smiled at the camera over Clark’s shoulder. The interview was being filmed in his office at the Daily Planet. He had a camera in front of him, filming him face-on and another camera behind him, filming the reporter. He guessed they would mesh the two angles together in editing.

“So, Mr Queen. You’re a successful newspaper publisher and an award-winning author. You also apparently have quite a following on social media.”

“I suppose I do,” he answered. He never really paid attention to that stuff and Lois was usually the one to check up on that or reply to any personal messages.

“How does it make you feel, knowing that so many people look up to you?”

“Miss Carter, I can’t answer on behalf of all of those people who follow me on social media, so I can’t say that they look up to me. All I can say is that I do my best to be a good man and if that is something they see as a good example, more power to them.”

“So, tell me. How did this book come about?”

He began to explain how he’d started his writing career under an assumed name, not wanting to cash in on his family’s fame. When he’d approached a few publishers, they had recognised him as Oliver Queen’s younger brother. Some had turned him down on that basis, but when he’d sent his proposal to Richmond Publishing, Emma had asked to meet with him. 

She had persuaded him to out himself as Jerome Kent and published the book under his real name. Most of the book’s content had included information he’d already gathered for his freelance articles but thanks to Jor-El’s thorough analysis he was able to go into further detail. 

Robyn Carter listened, nodding. Despite her reputation for cynicism, she was clearly interested and even impressed. 

“So, author, publisher, husband … what’s next? Father?”

He smiled and looked up as the door to his office opened. Lois stood in the doorway, her face flushed with excitement. 

“You never know,” he responded.

The interview wrapped up a short time later. Clark saw the reporter and the crew out and turned to his wife, who had sat down on the couch. 

“Lois?”

“They’ll be here very soon,” she said. “Clark …”

“Don’t be nervous, okay?”

“I’m not nervous, just … We’ve waited so long for this.”

“I know, honey.”

The office door opened again and Amanda walked in with a huge smile on her face. Behind her, a plump woman stood with her hands on the shoulders of a two-year-old boy. 

***

Oliver saw his wife frowning at him as he drove from the airport. He’d opted to drive the family himself instead of taking a limo. The BMW was a smooth ride and had a lot more leg room than the Lamborghini.

Clark had called and asked them to come for the weekend, telling them to be there in time for dinner that evening.

“Did he say what it was about?” she asked.

“No. Just that he wanted us to be at their house at six-thirty.” 

Oliver glanced at his three-year-old son in the back of the car. Conner had fallen asleep on the plane from Star City and was still sleeping soundly. He looked at his wife in the passenger seat. She was rubbing her belly. She was almost seven months pregnant.

“You okay, sweetheart?”

“Yes, I’m fine,” she said. “Don’t worry. I don’t think your little girl is planning on making an entrance just yet.”

“If she’s anything like her mother, it’ll be dramatic.”

“Hey!” Chloe replied. He heard a laugh from the back-seat. His mother smirked at him from the seat beside Conner.

Oliver pulled up in the driveway of the bungalow. Clark and Lois had opted to buy a modest two-storey house in New Troy. It wasn’t anything as luxurious as the mansion in Star City, but it was comfortable and they liked it. 

The door opened, revealing Lois, as if she had already been alerted to their presence. They got out of the car, Oliver carrying Conner, figuring it was quicker than waking up the toddler and letting him walk by himself to the door. He had a tendency to dawdle. Conner woke up as they reached the step.

Lois hugged her cousin. “Wow, cuz, you look huge!”

“Yeah, thanks,” she said. “Really needed to hear that.”

Lois laughed. “Sorry, cuz. Just being honest. Come on. We’re in the family room.” She appeared excited about something, her face flushed and her eyes sparkling with happiness.  
Puzzled, Oliver followed his wife and sister-in-law down the hallway. As they reached the door, he could hear Clark and a child’s voice. Clark was explaining something to the child. 

Lois opened the door with a flourish. Clark and a little boy aged about two looked up. The boy was dark-haired, like Clark, with pale skin. Conner begged to be put down and immediately made a beeline for the other toddler.

All three adults looked at the couple as Lois went to her husband’s side and took the little boy’s hand. 

“We wanted you to meet our son. Christopher Adam Queen.”

He stared at his brother, then down at the child. 

“Uh … what?”

Chloe was over her shock first. “You didn’t tell us you were adopting,” she said.

“It’s been in the works since he was born, actually,” Clark said. “Remember that bridge collapse in Germany?”

Oliver nodded. Superman had gone to help and he’d taken a pregnant woman to the hospital. The mother had died shortly after giving birth to a little boy. 

“Wait! Is that … is he …”

Lois nodded, gently stroking her son’s hair with a loving touch. 

“I thought since the mother had no living relatives that we should try to adopt him.”

“It took a while,” Clark added. “The authorities wanted to try to track any family down, but no one came forward. Of course, then there was all the red-tape we had to deal with.”

Moira smiled knowingly, moving to get down on one knee before the little boy. She took his hand.

“I’m your Grandma, sweetie.”

“We’ve been teaching him English. Ever since the officials told us it was happening, we’ve been visiting every couple of weeks,” Lois said. 

“So that’s where you’ve been going on these mysterious trips,” Chloe said. Oliver nodded. Clark had begged off a few social occasions saying he and Lois had some personal business to take care of, but had never given a full explanation. 

“Wow!” Oliver said. “I can’t believe you never told us.”

“Well, we told Mom, but we made her swear to keep it a secret,” Lois told him. 

Oliver looked at his mother, who just grinned. 

The little boy tugged on the hemline of Lois’ skirt. She crouched down.

“What is it, sweetie?”

“Hungry, mama.”

She laughed delightedly. “Okay, baby. We’ll get you something to eat.”

She picked him up in her arms and took him out of the room, Moira following with Conner, who was also begging for something to eat.

Oliver turned to his brother. “So, does this mean …”

Clark shrugged. “It doesn’t mean anything,” he said. “It’s like Lois is always telling me. Being a parent isn’t just about biology. It’s about love. It was what she wanted and I loved the idea. Whether we have natural children or not doesn’t matter.”

Chloe hugged him. “I think you and Lois will be wonderful parents,” she said. “I’m so happy for you.”

Clark grinned. “You’ll never believe this, but we called the General to tell him he was a Grandpa and he actually sounded happy for us. His exact words, and I quote are: ‘I’m never gonna like you, Queen, but you make my daughter happy and I guess I can live with it. I’ll be wanting to meet my grandson’.”

Oliver laughed. “Figures,” he said with a snort. “They always come around when the grandkids come along.”

“Lucy will be here shortly,” Lois said, returning with little Chris, who was chewing on a cookie. Clark held out his arms for his son, grinning as the little boy responded with a giggle. Conner was in his grandmother’s arms, also chewing on a cookie. Oliver didn’t have the heart to scold him for spoiling his dinner.

The family gathered around to coo at the newest member, who appeared completely unfazed by it all. Oliver glanced at his wife, who smiled back at him. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and hugged her close, watching as Clark and Lois did the same. 

It was funny how things worked out, he thought. He remembered something Clark had told him a long time ago. When he’d first learned what he was, he had been afraid he would never be accepted. Now he had a wife who not only accepted him, she also supported him in every way. She stood by his side, encouraging him, loving him and being there to give him a way to rest his mind when all the expectations that came with being Superman became too much. 

The past two years since Clark and Lois had got married had been relatively quiet, considering all the hype that had built up before their wedding. The media soon got bored when a couple just settled down into married life and didn’t appear to do anything but go to the occasional charity ball. They had been conspicuous by their absence at a few events and now Oliver understood why. 

He was thrilled for them. They had a lot of love to give and why shouldn’t they give their love to a child who had lost everything practically the moment he was born? 

As he looked at his brother’s happy face, he was reminded of the first time he had laid eyes on the little foundling who would become his baby brother. Sure, they’d had their ups and downs and moments of sibling rivalry where they’d tried to outdo each other with naughtiness but he knew now that he wouldn’t change it for the world. 

They were family, and that was everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really know how long it would take to adopt a child, but I imagine there would be a lot of red tape which would take a lot of time to go through, especially because the child is from another country.


End file.
